-Nick's Chronicles, (The adventure of Sargent Wilde)-
by GreenBear123
Summary: It was approximately three years after Judy and Nick met during the night howler case. Their lives changed drastically. Nick now a Sargent of ZSD, has to fight his old arch-nemesis in order to free Zootopia from an age of struggle. He has to unite with his old friend and love interest Judy to fight his nemesis and uncover the truth about his father's disappearance in the process...
1. Introduction (The Aftermath)

**Introduction:**

This story happens 3 years after the night howler incident. Nick Wilde now a respected police officer of the Sheriff's Department of Zootopia has to team up with his old friend and love interest Judy Hopps in order to solve a case that can result in Zootopia entering an age of darkness and anarchy. New and old faces alike will join them as Nick has to fight his old childhood friend now his arch nemesis. This exciting action packed story will take Nick Wilde deep into previously unseen territory where he must choose between duty and relationships. Be advised there will be some spoilers to the main film.

Note: All the new and old characters are fictional and resemblance with other characters is not intended

I am in no way associated with Disney or with anyone working there. I wish I was *sigh.

 **The aftermath**

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There was silence, an aftermath of a large gunfight. It was approximately three years after the night howler incident. Nick and several other police officers lay behind cover injured and on their last magazines. There were bullet casings everywhere, blood covered the field. Sargent Nick Wilde along with his fellow officers knew too well that everything was going to end that the gunfight hasn't ended.

"Listen up men. Reload your guns, fill in your spare magazines with any bullets that you can find and do it fast!" Nick Wilde swiftly ordered his men as he moved in closer to the enemy who were waiting for the Police to act. Nick was getting flashbacks of the good old times he had with Judy, he couldn't let his memories take over him.

With his swift hand motions his fellow police officers surrounded the enemy in the cover of the shadows. As they approached they drew their weapons readying to fire. As they approached appropriate cover Nick looked at his scars and blood. His body armor had protected him long enough, now it was the final fight.

Nick took a quick look at his men as he drew his pistol aimed and shouted "This one's for you Judy!"

He released the trigger. At first the criminals were taken by surprise, they took a few casualties but their hard hitting high caliber guns were no match to the ZPD's pistols, light shotguns and rifles. Gunfire rang through the surrounding neighborhood at first a stray bullet grazed his shoulder and he fell, but he stood back up and continued fighting.

The fight lasted for god know's how long, the morning sun rose as the final survivors exchanged their last bullets and than went in for the melee. Fur, claws and teeth fell all around. The backup that Nick's squad needed arrived to late, the criminal survivors either surrendered or died as hero for their boss. Judy was the first to rush out of the riot van, all around her the new fresh backup was broken at the sight of the battle, not a single survivor.

Judy could only hope that Nick survived as she rushed around the field shouting "Nick! Where are you? Anyone still alive? Nick!"

As Judy sprinted allover the field Nick was nowhere to be seen. Not a single ZPD officer could find Nick however deep in her heart Judy knew he was alive. After the coroners and paramedics with volunteers took away all the bodies, Judy ran to Bogo. With tears down her cheeks she reported to Chief Bogo eager to find out of Nick survived or not.

Judy ran to the tent setup for the operations head quarters as she entered through the doorway "Chief Bogo, sir has Nick.. I mean Sargent Wilde been found yet?"

"I'm sorry but my men have been searching all over the area. There is no chances for him to be alive, he is probably buried under debris and we **will** find him. I promise." Replied Bogo while Judy wept. As he was about to sit down with her and try to calm her down two loud *Bangs* were heard.

A tall tiger in heavy Kevlar armor and a rifle walked in saluting "Chief Bogo sir."

"What is it Lieutenant?" Replied Bogo eager to find out what happened.

"Two loud gunshots were heard coming from the train yard. None of my men fired, shall we investigate?" As soon as the Tiger said 'none of my men fired' Judy leaped out of her chair and ran towards the train yard.

"Lieutenant, you and your men follow Staff Sargent Hopps, don't let her get injured!" The tiger saluted and ran outside ordering his men to follow Hopps.

Judy had a strong feeling that it was Nick who fired the shots. She blindly ran towards the area where the gunshots were detected at only thinking of Nick. " _Come on Nick. It has to be you, it can only be you!"_

As she entered the train yard she saw Nick heavily injured lying against a dumpster with a colt in his hand and a body of a Bear dressed in a suit lying against a dark black limo with a revolver in his outstretched arm on the other side of the train yard. All the officers soon followed and started to setup a perimeter.

As she approached Nick she saw his lifeless body bleeding. _"Please, oh please be alive Nick! You have to be alive!"_ She dropped her baton and tranquilizer and ripped off her sleeves and attempted to stop the bleeding but it wasn't enough. As medics ran in to stabilize Nick, all the officers came in close to hear Nick's words.

"I-I-I... guess... a ...revolver... can injure... a fox in Kevlar... heh... he... Do-don't... worry ca-ca-carrots" As he spoke his eyes rolled as he fell into a deep coma...

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 ***Hope you enjoyed it. If you got any feedback please tell me in your review. Have a great day** *****


	2. Chapter 1 (The Assignment)

The Assignment

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Nick Wilde instantly snapped out of his sleep. He just witnessed a bad dream, as he rose out of his bed he smelt the stench of coffee next to him on his bedside table was a half empty cup of dark coffee. As he opened his closet to get dressed he saw next to his clean dark beige Sheriff's uniform, his old navy blue ZPD uniform still hanging.

He started remembering the old days. _"Oh carrots, if only I had a chance to visit you at bunny burrows"_ He remarked to himself the fact that his old partner Judy Hopps was promoted to the help oversee the Police of Bunny Borrows and how they exchanged farewells as she entered the bus.

As he got dressed into his dark beige uniform he dusted off his insignia and firmly attached his shiny golden badge that read Sargent N. Wilde , Trust, Bravery, Integrity the vows that he had to promise when graduating three years ago. As he attached on his utility belt and his radio he checked his gear once more.

"Let see here, service pistol check, one pair of handcuffs check, baton check, flashlight check, radio check, letter check.. wait what?" he murmured to himself as pulled out the letter. He finally remembered that late night he went to the post office and got a letter from the BBPD, he was too tired so he fell asleep before he read it

As Nick opened the letter he started sniffing it _"I recognize this smell it's from Judy! Oh I wonder what she has to write for me. Dear Nick Wilde, I wonder how is your life at Zootopia? I just heard that you got promoted to the Zootopian Sheriff's department what luck. Everything here at Bunny Borrows has been quiet, I've been wondering if you want to visit me some time it's been pretty lonely here. P.S Sorry that I couldn't send you a letter for the past month I have been really busy. Kind regards Judy Hopps."_

After reading the letter Nick stopped for a second and started to scratch his head "How on earth am I gonna be able to go to Bunny Borrows any time soon? Well might as well attempt to ask chief after roll call." As Nick exited his apartment the warm morning sun started to rise and warm up his fur. As he entered the bus there was no space for Nick to sit as all the commuters during the rush hour filled up the buses. As he was standing near a window he watched mammals walking around doing their standard activities going to work or taking a break in the bright and vibrant Sahara Square.

 _"This is gonna be a fun ride._ _"_ Nick though to himself as he got squished in by the various animals. Once he arrived at Precinct 1 and exited the bus he nearly fell to the ground as he started to gulp for air. He finally regained his composure as he entered the building the morning chill was still hanging around as the air condition was just turning on.

"Excuse me, are you by any chance Sargent Wild?" A voice came from behind.

"That's me, who's asking?" Replied Nick as he turned around to see a a dark grey wolf wearing the same dark beige uniform as Nick

"Hi there my names Officer Gerald, its an honor to be your new partner for the assignment."

Nick became confused as he was never told about any assignment "What assignment?"

"Oh you don't know. Well I was told by the chief that he wanted me and you to meet in the briefing room along with the ZPD officers. Here's the file." The wolf produces a small clipboard along with some papers from his tan bag.

As Nick started to read them a gleam appeared in his eyes _"Assignment #432, Zootopia Sheriff's department, Assignment for Sargent N.P. Wilde and Officer G.R. Terrance , Location: Bunny Borrows"_ Nick smiled as he became delighted at the idea "We are going to Bunny Borrows, you hear me Gerald!" He quickly handed back the clipboard with the files to the confused Gerald as they headed for the Briefing Room.

As they entered the room and sat in their designated seats, their Dark Beige uniform stood out from the standard Navy blue color. A lot of the officers fixed their eyes on Nick who was sporting unusual aviators on his head, until a large Rhino walked up to the pair.

"eherm" The Rhino spoke in a deep voice

As Nick turned his head to face Rhino, he recognized the face "If it isn't Sargent McHorn, how you doing this fine day?"

"As usual Nick, what brings you here? It's very unusual to see uniforms of your eherm, color."

"well..." As Nick started to reply to McHorn, Chief Bogo walked into the room wearing his dark navy blue police uniform shouting "Silence! Take your seats and cut the chatter" as per usual Bogo gave everyone out their daily assignments. After awhile of explaining to the officers what they had to do, it was time for Bogo to speak to the last pair.

"Lets see here, Wilde and Terrance. You've got a special short term assignment. The police department at Bunny Burrows is lacking manpower so until their new recruits arrive its both of your jobs to assist them with their work."

"Yes sir!" Exclaimed the pair showing that they were ready to take the job.

Bogo takes off his reading glasses as he gives a remark to Nick "I wish the ZPD was filled with officers like you Sargent Wilde, nowadays all the recruits have birds for brains, not trying to be racist or anything. Anyways you got your task, Dismissed!"

As Nick and Gerald arrived at the lockers a question arose in Gerald's mind. "I'm not trying to be annoying or anything like that sir, but are we gonna be carrying any rifles with us?"

Nick continued to grab his gear as he spoke to Gerald "First thing you don't have to call me sir, secondly we sure will as employees of the Sheriff's department we are required to carry a Kevlar vest including a sidearm and a rifle or shotgun somewhere close by."

"Oh OK Nick i'm guessing that's how you want me to call you, it's just that I never had to shoot another living mammal and since we are carrying this gear it seems like anytime soon we will be required to shoot someone"

After grabbing their gear and leaving the locker room Nick sensed something about Gerald. _"I've gotta comfort Gerald, it seems like hes fairly nervous since its probably his first assignment"_

He than started to pat Gerald's back while attempting to comfort him "Don't worry pal, if you do have to shoot don't aim at the body or the head that's where they are more vulnerable. Just relax, we can't let those thoughts get in front of service and duty.

As the pair walk out you can see Nick sporting his dark beige uniform along with a moderately armored green Kevlar vest along with a carbine rifle slinged on his back. On the other hand Gerald is wearing a lightly armored green Kevlar vest with his large tan bag with a long hunting rifle of some type on his back. As they approach the parking lot their eyes are quickly transfixed on the big Tan SUV roughly the height of the ZPD squad cars but more wider and longer. The whole SUV.

"Well" Nick comments on the car as he looks at Gerald "It's not Tank but it has to do... Place your stuff in the trunk, i'll be driving."

Nick jumps into the drivers seat, he sees the whole SUV is modernized, it contains a state of the art mammal position system along with luxury chairs and bulletproof windows. The backseats are separated from the front with a large metallic grid like structure. The dashboard contains a standard police dash cam along with a speed radar. As Nick and Gerald pull out of the parking lot you can see their eyes gleaming with joy as they are excited for the journey ahead of them.

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 ***Just is just a medium sized chapter just to give you an example of how the story will progress. Hope you enjoyed, reviews and constructive comments are appreciated. Thanks***


	3. Chapter 2 (The Country)

The Country

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As Nick was driving he put his left paw outside on the door, he felt a familiar calm country wind. The calm rustling of trees made the country more appealing. As they were approaching Bunny Borrows they could see less modernized urban vehicles and buildings and more old and antique farm houses and fields. As they approached and stopped at the Bunny Borrows sign Gerald got confused.

"yawn , Uh sir, I think i'm having a headache. yawn, That sign's population is broken its increasing by a lot." Gerald commented as he was trying to rub his eyes.

"That sign. I remember sometime ago an old pal who was a bunny told me they were good at multiplying. Yawn I guess that's what she meant. Gerald?" As Nick looked at Gerald he saw he fell asleep.

Nick attempted to wake him up, but he was already fast asleep. _"Well at least I wont get that many questions"_ He though to himself as he focused on the road.

Once they entered the Bunny Burrows area there was old farming equipment everywhere, most of it already rusted. He could see Bunnies and occasionally other mammals working in the fields. There was an unusual black limousine uncommon around such old farming equipment, it drove fast but out of town but Nick had a bad feeling about it but decided to ignore it. As Nick started to relax in his driver's seat he started to see quiet a lot of shacks on the road selling their products. Nick had a job to do, to report to the department and than find Judy so he decided not to stop for a break. As Nick decided to turn on the radio to listen to some tunes, he realized that it was getting dark pretty fast. He himself was getting really sleepy, as he started to close his eyes the road started to become longer and more darker. Until it was Gerald who woke him up.

"Hey Nick, wake up. Just pull over let me drive." Nick did just that and in a minute he was dozing off in the backseat.

It was a really calm and dark night, you could only ever hear the engine of the SUV or passing by vehicles. It was dark unlike Zootopia which was covered with lamp posts and vehicle lights and the very loud nightlife.

* * *

As the sun started to rise, Nick had to cover his eyes and wake up. _"Ah it's getting so bright argh, what am I doing in the backseat?"_ As he rose from lying down, he started to look around.

He noticed that the SUV was parked in front of a large red brick building, there was a half broken sign that could read "Station" All around him there were buildings maximum of 3 stories and market stalls all around him. He could see playful bunnies and other mammals happily playing. He could also see mammals buying goods or selling them, the town square was filled with animals of all sizes. The whole square's scenery was so vibrant it reminded him of Sahara square his home. He could see Gerald approach him as his uniform and Kevlar stood out from the other animals.

As Gerald approached and entered the SUV he spoke quietly as not to alert Nick "Hey Nick, sir. Your awake that's good."

Nick started to scratch his head "What happened? Last I remember I was driving the vehicle and than we stopped."

"Oh you don't remember well. After you stopped we exchanged seats and I continued driving while you were sleeping at the back. After arriving at the police department, I decided to leave you in the car as I wen't to check in, than I went to sleep at a nearby motel."

"I should go to the department than." Nick exited the SUV and went inside the building.

The inside was much more modern than the outside, he could see the floor's were polished with two hallways leaving the main lobby, one towards the detention block and other to the rest of the station. The main lobby had a ceiling fan that was spinning which brought a nice and warm air flow that refreshed the old station. He could see the occasional dark green uniform as officers were moving around doing their thing. Near the reception desk there was two long waiting benches half full of civilians.

As he approached the desk "Please take a seat and wait in line. We will be with you shortly" a voice came from the receptionist.

"Ah excuse me." Nick replied

The receptionist raised his head while speaking "I said take a se... Oh sorry didn't recognize you there, you're the new arrival correct?" the receptionist started checking through the papers on his table.

"Sargent Wilde of the ZSD, arrived to assist with the running of operations here." Nick started to spot some cereal and a bowl with a spoon laying on the desk.

"Nice to meet you, Richard Clawhauser receptionist and dispatcher." He pulls out his arm to shake Nick's paw.

Nick finished shaking his paw "Clawhauser? Are you related to Benjamin Clawhauser?"

"Ben? that's right, how's he doin'? hows the city life treating 'em?" Nick started to recognize a country accent coming from Richard.

"Well I have to go now. I'll find my way around here by myself. Bye now"

"Bye, bye." Richard replied as he started preparing his cereal.

As Nick walked up to the chief's office he could see Gerald walking out of it as he approached Nick.

"Nick, sir. I just received the our first task. Here, we have to investigate a series of burglaries which are all related." Gerald hands over the documents.

"Related? what makes them think so?" Nick spoke while reading the papers.

"Well first off the burglars targeted hardware stores around town. For every targeted store there was a big black paw mark left on the front door."

"Have the detectives traced the paw marks?"

"Uh no sir, we are the detectives for today."

Nick's eyes started gleaming as he stared outside a window as he remembered an old case. "A few years ago when I wasn't a police officer I had to team up with this bunny and investigate a case. There was only one lead. In the end the whole disappearance of mammals was part of a bigger operation."

"The Night howler case?" Gerald started to look closer at Nick.

"Yeah. Well what are we waiting for lets go." Nick handed the papers back to Gerald and put on his aviators as they hastily walked outside entered their SUV and drove to the first crime scene. Their adventure was just starting to begin.

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 ***Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews and/or constructive feedback are appreciated. Have a great day***


	4. Chapter 3 (The first Burgulary

The first burglary

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As Nick and Gerald drove up to the first hardware store that was hit they found that it was really quiet. As they parked their SUV in front of the store there wasn't a single police officer on scene. As they approached the store Nick ordered Gerald to setup a perimeter around the store as he went in to investigate. As he approached the door the only abnormal thing he saw was a large black paw mark on the window of the door. As he opened the door the lock wasn't broken and inside the store was cleaned inside out, all the products were stolen.

As Nick pulled out his notepad to record all he saw he whispered to himself "This is unusual, the lock isn't broken neither are any of the windows and the place isn't messy." He saw someone moving inside at the back.

"Hello are you by any chance the owner of this place" Nick spoke in a confident tone while also holding his close his gun.

"Oh another officer, say are you by any chance a detective?" The owner was an old pig wearing a purple vest with green trousers.

"I sure am sir well temporarily. What do you mean by another officer?"

"Well earlier, maybe about an hour ago two officers from the BBPD drove in checked if everything was clear and told me the detectives will come."

"Alright so they haven't done any investigating yet. Say can I see the camera footage?" Nick replied as he saw a camera in the corner of the store.

"Sure thing, follow me"

As Nick and the Owner walked towards the room, he started to think to himself. _"two officers from the BBPD hmm, maybe it's Judy? I've got to ask the owner"_

"I got another question sir. Can you describe the two officers that came in?" Nick asked the owner as they continued walking

"Well one of the officers was a sheep and the other was a bunny," the owner spoke to Nick as he recalled the two officers to Nick.

 _"A bunny. Maybe it is Judy?... I have to forget about her for now, got to focus on my duty."_ Nick though to himself as he decided to continue with his work.

As they entered the backroom it was all dusty. There was a small metal desk with a fuse and alarm box next to it, on the table there was a monitor. The owner tried to turn on the monitor "Come on turn on!" he failed so he then tried to eject the tape. He spoke to Nick in horror "The-the tape is missing!"

Nick put a paw to his chin as he started to ponder at the idea of who the criminals are "So they are professionals. Did you or anyone hear the alarm turn on?"

"No. It's strange, the alarm guy told me it would turn on if someone even touched the door."

Nick starts looking through his notes. "Do you by any chance know this alarm guy?"

"Never saw him in my life, he seemed fairly fishy though. Took him a very short time to install it and he asked me a lot of questions about the shipments that arrive"

"What did you tell him?" Nick starts recording with his pen.

"Everything that I always tell the customers, what you see here in display is what I have. However, I did have a shipment of gunpowder arrive yesterday several boxes of it, which got stolen"

Nick was shocked "Gunpowder!? Why didn't you hire a guard to protect it?"

"Well I uh… I though nothing would happen to it overnight and then my alarm would sound if someone tried to rob it

Nick placed his notes on the desk as he attempted to open the alarm box. "Locked, do you by any chance have the key?"

"Yes right here." The owner pulls out a small key chain with various keys on it. He hands over the key to the security box. Nick places the key into the lock and unlocked the box. As he turned the box he spoke to the owner with a smirk. "Are you sure he even installed an alarm?"

"Yeah he told me he did." Replied the owner.

"Well take a look inside."

as the owner looked inside more horror appeared on his face. "How can it be empty!?"

"OK so these guys are professionals after all. How long ago did the alarm get installed?"

The owner takes out a diary and starts reading it. "two and a half weeks ago."

As Nick was about to ask more questions Gerald rushed in. "Nick, sir. There's a witness outside I tried to tell her to leave the crime scene but she claims she saw the criminals load up a truck late midnight."

Nick followed Gerald who lead him to a Deer standing outside with a handbag. She is wearing a velvet pattern shirt with white shorts and a flowery hat on her head.

"Hello ma'am." Nick spoke trying to act formal.

"Hello there, are you in charge around here?" The Deer spoke in a somewhat posh voice.

"I sure am ma'am, my partner told me you have key..."

The Deer interrupts Nick "At midnight I saw two large mammals wearing completely black outfits load up trucks behind the store. I was awoken by the noise of them loading up the boxes. I thought it was the standard delivery until I saw the police come this morning."

Nick writes down everything that she told him "Thanks ma'am, if you do get any more information please report it to your local police station."

"My pleasure darling." The Deer replies as she walks home.

"Let's check the room that you stored the gunpowder."

Nick and the Owner went towards the room while Gerald stayed on guard. As they approached the door Nick noticed that the door had an electronic lock to it. The owner placed his paw against it and the door became unlocked. Inside there wasn't a trace of any gunpowder. There were two empty boxes and a vent that was big enough for a weasel to enter. Nick noticed that from the inside the door didn't have a paw scanner.

Nick takes out his notepad and pen. "Tell me more about this locking mechanism"

"Well if you want to enter from the outside you need to scan your paw. This little is registered to only allow me to enter. However, it's unlocked if you want to open it from the inside.

Thoughts started to rush through Nick's mind, " _What if the criminals had a small mammal climb in through the vents and then open the door from the inside."_

For the rest of the morning Nick was searching the stock's list to see what was missing. Among the gunpowder, drills, wrenches, screwdrivers and other mechanical tools were missing. When there weren't any more leads that Nick could follow he gave his farewells.

"Sir if you ever find anything that might help us solve the case do visit the department." He spoke to the owner as he and Gerald drove away.

Nick focused on the road, for him there were more questions than answers. He wondered to himself, _"No alarm, stolen tools and gunpowder, no broken windows, no records of the criminals, doors lock picked and all products missing this is starting to sound a lot like the night howler case, not a single trace apart from this phone."_ He started to wonder a lot more, thinking about what connection there can be with the two cases. He started remembering the old times when he worked with Judy side by side, she was one smart bunny he thought to himself as they continued to drive.

"Hey Gerald, don't mind me asking what brought you to the force." Nick questioned Gerald.

Gerald sighed as he started telling his story:

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"It's a long story Nick but I'll try to tell it to you as well as I can. A few years ago I was a young wolf who lived with both of his parents in tundra town. My family was really poor at times they couldn't scrape enough food to eat so we starved most of the time. My father was great as sneaking and some of the time he tried to break into cafes and restaurants just so he could supply for me and my mother. He was never caught and the local mafia noticed this, they offered him a criminal career.

My mother was against this but what could she say we really needed money to supply ourselves. My father agreed with this proposal, for weeks he was bringing us all the money we ever needed for a good meal and we finally had the money to at least get new clothing. My mother finally found a good job to sustain us."

Nick could sense the anger and fury growing inside of Gerald, he focused on the road while also closely listening to him.

"One day my father's boss visited us and told us that my father died while helping his brothers, I felt proud for my father he died as a hero. A few days later one of my father's most loyal allies came for a visit, he had scars and bandages all over him. He reported that his father betrayed the mafia and decided to help the police force. As soon as he left our apartment we could hear gunshots, when I rushed outside, he-he was dead…"

Gerald was now shaking all over, Nick quickly parked the SUV, took of his aviators and attempted to calm him down. "calm down Gerald, it's in the past were now in the present."

"They killed my father Nick, those criminal scum killed him!" Gerald was now full of furry he pushed Nick away from him with all his force and continued his story.

"That's when I decided to avenge my father, I sent an application to the academy and I passed, after training in one of the best academies I was finally ready to serve the police force. One of my superiors noticed what potential I had the long while that I served in the force, he decided to recruit me into the Sheriff's department. And that is how I ended up here Nick."

There was a moment of silence, Nick allowed Gerald to calm down by himself. Gerald kept on looking down, he was now more eager than ever to find the criminals.

"Nick, we're going to find all those scum that killed my father and we will put them on trial." Gerald spoke quietly to Nick, he still had small burst of anger.

Nick finally learnt the true side of Gerald. Who might've seemed like an innocent wolf who wanted to become a cop now was a redeemer who wanted to repay his father's death.

Nick now held both of Gerald's shoulders so he would listen to him, "Gerald, remember don't ever let your anger take control of you during your duty. You can become blinded and fail your true task, to protect and serve."

Finally, Nick and Gerald arrived at the second crime scene he saw one unusually dark green and black colored police squad car parked outside as he went towards the store he saw a familiar face…

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 ***I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More on the way. If you can please give me a review. Enjoy your day***


	5. Chapter 4 (The reunion)

The reunion

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Nick recognized the familiar face as Judy Hopps his old friend and love interest wearing a green uniform with a dark green Kevlar vest.

Judy literally leaped into Nick's which staggered him back a few paces. "Nick, I've missed you so much, why haven't you come earlier?"

"I've been busy carrots, really busy. It's so great to meet you again." Nick replied while he continued to hug Judy

"Ahem, hem." Gerald coughed and indicated that they should continue their investigation.

"Ah right, Judy meet Officer Gerald Terrance, we have been tasked with assisting the BBPD for now until they get new recruits. What made you stay here and not make the owner wait for a detective?"

"Let me show you, follow me." Judy lead Gerald and Nick into the store.

The Hardware store was big, 2 floors. The windows had high grade bars so nobody could break in easily without the needed tools. As Nick walked inside he could see that none of the products on display seemed to be missing. At the end of the room the Owner an old bunny sat in a rattan chair next to him a young bunny stood speaking to him.

"Mr Smith, this is Officer Wilde and Officer Terrance, there are part of the Zootopia Sheriff's department tasked with assisting me investigate your case." Judy spoke to the Old bunny

"Howdy sir, Can you tell me what happened here?" Nick attempted to imitate the local accent while trying to question him.

"Well late night, during Midnight I think" The old bunny started to remember "It was three big mammals that entered my store undetected, luckily I decided to stay late and check my stock. When the thieves arrived I heard some suspicious noises, when I peeked the corner I saw them, so I locked my door and turned on the Alarm. When they heard it they ran outside and boarded a truck I believe. Luckily my grandson arrived to help." The old bunny pointed at the younger one standing next to him.

As Nick finished writing down on his notepad he gave another question. "Were you able to identify them? maybe heard them say something?"

The old bunny tried his hard to remember he kept on looking around until the younger bunny stepped in. "They said something about disabling the alarm and returning to the Boss with haste, they were also dressed completely black."

"Alright thanks." Nick replied as he and Judy went outside to talk.

Nick starts looking through his notes comparing the two burglaries. "This is the second time i'm hearing about a burglary happening at midnight with a truck arriving at the back, large black paw mark at the front."

Judy's radio starts buzzing. "Let me answer this Nick." She steps away to talk on the radio. Nick on the other hand decided to checkout the alleyway behind the store. As he approached the backdoor he spots a small otter sneaking out of the store with a bag on his back.

"Hey drop the bag, you're under arrest for illegally trespassing on a crime scene." He quickly grabs his pistol to show the Otter that he meant business.

"Hey, officer relax, I-I never knew this was a crime scene" The otter smirks as he drops the bag

Nick senses something is wrong so he starts slowly walking up to the Otter with his gun up. He hears something coming close and in an instance something hits him on the back of the head, Nick's whole life quickly flashes before his eyes as he drops to the ground unconscious.

* * *

Nick wakes up 10 minutes later, he sees Judy holding an ice pack on the back of his head. Gerald and Mr smith's grandson standing next to him. Nick starts rubbing the back of his head not letting Judy apply the ice pack.

"Oooff, carrots what happened?"Nick questions her as she continues applying an ice pack on his head.

"Sweet cheese and crackers someone knocked you hard, the thing is as soon as I heard some loud noises in the alleyway I quickly rushed in to investigate, when I came I saw a car drive off and you lying flat on your stomach with a pistol near your hand. I don't like this Nick, reports from the other crime scenes came in, pretty much the same as this one however the thieves were successful as ravaged through the products" Judy replied.

"I don't like this Carrots. This doesn't seem like your average break in, these guys are good and well organised. Not a single trace of them apart from a black paw mark they leave." Nick discussed with Gerald and Judy on the possibility that the thieves were part of a bigger organization.

The sun was starting to set so Judy suggested. "Nick how about both of you come over for the night? I'm guessing you don't have anywhere to stay at the moment."

Gerald and Nick both looked at each other "Well Sir you can go with Officer Hopps, I already have a motel room booked, at seems like you two need some time to reunite with each other."

Nick did just that as they said their farewells Nick hopped with Judy into her cruiser. They headed back to the station got changed and left for Judy's house in her small hatchback. The calm night wind was blowing in Nick's face through the open window as they drove up Judy's driveway.

Nick started thinking. "Carrots, what are your parents gonna tell you about me staying over at their house?"

Judy instantly replies to Nick with a smile. "Relax Nick, you've met my parents before, they are pretty fond of you now for all you did for me, they are still however angered at our prey and pred relationship."

"Just like a lot of people are my sly bunny."

As they arrived everything was normal and quiet until one of Judy's siblings spotted him and cried out. "Judy's friend is back! Judy's friend is back!"

Nick realized what this meant as he braced for cover. "uh oh." Dozens of small bunnies ran at nick forcing him to fall on the grass as they covered and nearly smothered him. Hearing what was happening Stu ran towards the horde of bunnies and shooed them away. Nick carefully climbed up and dusted off the grass and dirt of his uniform.

"Hello Sweetheart, Nick, what brings you here?" Stu asks Nick while helping him get up. Unlike Bonnie, Stu believes that whoever Judy likes is whoever she's OK with, since she already has a ton of children to worry about.

"That was something. Well I was sent here by superiors to support the local Police Department, Judy said that I can stay overnight while I deal with accommodation.

"Eh that's fine, Judy will show you to your room." Stu replied as she hurried off the bunnies to bed.

As Nick and Judy walk inside the long corridors of the large Hopp's house creaked as they walked through. Nick could see the countless portraits of dozens of bunnies sitting together when they finally reached Nick's new room Judy asked him a question. "Nick, wanna uh.. stay in my room for the night. I missed you after we haven't met for a long while.

Nick looks down at Judy as he replies with a sly grin on his face. "If you want to my cutie."

After Nick dropped his personal belongings Judy jokingly pushed Nick he than started searching for the shower. _"Lets see here, Uhhhh that seems like the way to the shower. Damn this is a pretty big house, how does Judy navigate herself around here?"_

After finally finding the bathroom Nick took a quick shower and walked back to Judy's room. To his surprise Judy already setup a sleeping bag next to her bed and had already had a shower.

"You bunnies still impress me." Nick spoke with a surprised face.

As they got into their beds Nick wondered to himself about the case and how there could possibly be a bigger organization behind this. He though about what Gerald told him about his fast and tried to compare it to his Father's disappearance. _"He couldn't have just disappeared_ _"_ He wondered to himself. As he lay in bed he could hear the occasional rustle of leaves and bunnies running along the hallways. Ever since he fell in love with Judy three years ago he always wanted to be with here but fate always got in their way. It's as if someone promoted Judy to a position she couldn't refuse somewhere far away from Nick so they would end their pred and prey relation.

"Nick?" Judy softly spoke

"Yeah Carrots?"

"I was thinking, what if I move back to Zootopia with you? We could get married, start a new life together, maybe even adopt a child?"

"I Wondered the same thing awhile back Carrots. We should really think about it in our free time after we crack this case."

"Alright, good night slick Nick."

"Good night cute bunny."

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 ***I hope you also enjoyed this chapter. All reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, I was also hinting on a possible sequel for the story in this chapter***


	6. Chapter 5 (The breakout)

The Break Out

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Nick and Judy were peacefully sleeping in their own beds. It was a warm night, the sun during the day managed to warm up the whole building and the thick walls helped it insulate. It was gonna be another beautiful day the sun was about to rise, but this peace was broken by a phone ringing.

Nick and Judy slowly wake up as Nick realizes what the alarm is. "Wait that's no alarm, that's my phone. Sorry Judy that it woke you up."

Judy was rubbing her eyes as she started to rise and looked at the clock. "6:45. This phone call has to have a good reason for waking us up so early."

"It's Gerald. Hello Gerald." Nick answered the phone while still yawning.

"Nick, you gotta tune in to the news channel and quick." Gerald answers while police sirens are going off in the background

Nick starts looking for a television set, "Can't you just tell me what happened, instead of having me run around the house searching for a television set?"

"Nick, sir. You'll understand it better if you see it on TV or with your own eyes."

"Nick, there's a television set in the lounge for whatever reason you might need it for."

She sees him shirtless and closes her eyes with her paws "Just dress first will you?"

Nick quickly puts on a spare pair of pants and a shirt and follows Judy to the lounge.

They walk in the dark just so they wont awake anyone, with Nick giving out directions. "Careful now Carrots, right here you gotta turn right... now."

As soon as they reach the lounge Nick quickly grabs the remote off the coffee table and tunes in to the ZNN.

"In other News there has been a jailbreak in the Zootopia Corrections Facility, several inmates have escaped including ex mayor Lionheart and several of his sympathizers. It is unknown who aided the escape but detectives have reported a series of big black paw marks left on the escapee's prison cell doors. It is also reported that no video trace can be found, neither was the alarm sounded when they tried to escape. Police are hinting on an inside job but several experts suggest they've seen the paw mark in other places. We will be interviewing one of the experts shortly."

Nick and Judy look at each other shocked. "Judy. This is bigger than just a burglary case, what if they'll try to reinstate Lionheart with force?"

Judy looks down, "I-I-I just don't know, it seems too familiar to the night howler case."

"Welcome back to ZNN, we are here with the interview. Good Morning officer Terrance."

"How can I help you today?"

"We have a few questions for you. What do you think of the whole incident."

"I am only gonna say one thing and that the police force is working hard, now cut the camera!."

Nick turns off the TV, they both head to their room. They hear knocking on the door of the house, Judy quietly runs to open it, Nick tries to eavesdrop. "Chief Bogo sir! what brings you here?"

"Bad news Hopps, now where's Nick. Ah there he is, get dressed into your uniform and gear and meet me at landing site behind station 7:30 sharp" Bogo replies, as he boards a cruiser.

Judy quickly grabs the key to her hatchback and they both drive off. The whole trip he is wondering why Bogo even came this far. The sun was now rising steadily and lightning up the countryside. There was the morning chill as Nick and Judy drove up to station. Nick quietly exits the charger and runs to his locker with Judy following him soon after. As soon as Richard saw Nick rush in he nearly bursted out while eating cereal.

"Howdy Nick, why in such a hurry!?"

"Not now Richard." Nick shouted while running up the stairs.

Nick and Judy quickly grab their uniform, gear and now calmly walk outside towards the back of the building. They shortly after meet Bogo and Gerald in front of a ZPD air division helicopter.

"Wilde this is priority number one."

Nick jokingly adds "You always say that sir."

Nick could sense that he disturbed Bogo big time. " And I should force you to do parking duty. Now where were we, ah yes. Town hall was hit this midnight."

"Town hall this midnight at the same time as the corrections facility!?" Nick and Judy both spoke out.

Gerald steps in "yes these guys aren't just some wild thieves, they attempted to steal an old archive that has info about their old organization..." Gerald sighs as he looks straight into Nick's eyes.

"Your father... he-he founded this."

Nick's eyes widely open as he sits down on a nearby bench shocked. "my-my father he disappeared many years ago, he was never heard of ever since, this can't be possible."

"This is why you're coming with us back to Zootopia, Hopps continue with your task." Bogo starts boarding the helicopter and Nick follows him shortly afterwards.

Judy starts rapidly stumping her foot in frustration. "Chief Bogo sir?"

"What is it Hopps we are running out of time here."

"Can I come with you? i'm not just some token bunny." As Judy asks him, Bogo was about to say no but he started to think and remembered the nighthowler case.

"Fine, i'll tell the BBPD that you're gone for a very important case."

Judy hops into the heli and sits down with Nick. Shortly after the helicopter spools up and they head for Zootopia's central city. As they rise up through the air the helicopter becomes more loud. Judy never really got into a helicopter before so her nose was twitching all the way while she sat there afraid. Nick wanted to hug her but what would Bogo say?.

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 ***Hope you enjoyed. Favorite and review if you want, both are really appreciated. I've got the rest of the story planned out, trust me this is gonna become a wild ride.***


	7. Chapter 6 (The Fate)

Fate

As the helo arrived closer to their destination and started to land the blades blew a large gust of wind that made the surrounding mammals brace for cover, Bogo started briefing the pair.

"This is of utmost importance, if news comes that the same organization that broke into one of the most heavily guarded facilities, broke into the town hall archives we will be ruined. The ZPD won't be viewed as a worthy force to stop them and we might go into an age of struggle and anarchy." Bogo was now yelling on top of his lungs as the helo started spooling down.

As Nick and Judy saluted and started to climb down Bogo reminded them of one more thing. "Remember, i'm giving you the most important assignment, don't fail me." They started running towards the town hall all around reporters and journalists were lining up to hear the mayor's speech in regards to the jailbreak. They approached the crowd and started looking for an opening.

"We aren't going through the front entrance Nick, there has to be another way the crims entered the archives." As Judy started to ponder over the idea on how to enter the facility Nick instinctively called Gerald through the radio.

He stepped away from the crowd so they won't hear him speak over the radio. "Gerald come in this is Officer Wilde."

He waited for a moment and the radio started to buzz "I hear - you loud - and - clear, Nick what - do you - require." Gerald's voice sounded static.

Nick places the radio near his ear so he could hear Gerald "Where the hell are you Gerald, why's your voice so static?"

"One - sec..."

Nick starts waiting and becomes frustrated as he starts tapping on his foot. Nick feels someone breath on his back, with instinct he attempts to grab the figure and push him away in order to get momentum to prepare. He manages to push back the weasel wearing a black suit but unfortunately for him a leopard also wearing a suit forces Nick to drop the radio, grabs him and places a paw around his mouth so he won't be able to shout for backup. Nick gets forced into a black limo with tinted windows as they drive away from the town hall. The leopard now releases his grip on Nick who tries to grab his gun but finds his holster empty on the other side of the limo he sees a weasel playing around with Nick's gun. Nick tries to grab the gun off the weasel but the leopard stops him.

"heh heh he. we got you real good." The weasel starts scoffing Nick.

The rest of the way Nick was sitting in the back without murmuring a single thing only thinking to himself. _"Urgh, this is the same limo we saw at Bunny Burrows. Damn I wish Judy was with me."_

As they drove deeper into the slum type neighborhood the Limo suddenly stopped in front of a cafe. An otter walked up to the door and opened it.

"Start moving copper, into the cafe!" The weasel snickered as he pushed Nick inside.

The cafe for being built in the poor neighborhood was luxurious inside. There were two bouncers standing at the front door looking all intimidating. Inside the main lobby there was a glass chandelier including some pretty expensive paintings, as they walked inside the large dinning hall was empty apart from several figures at the back. As Nick approached he realized that it was a fox lying down with his paw under his chin constantly thinking. The fox was wearing a black suit with a checkered blue shirt including a neat violet tie. Next to him a large bear in a suit stood talking on the phone. The closer they approached the more similarities Nick saw in the Fox.

The weasel bowed down as he gave the gun to the fox. "Sit." the weasel snickered as he stood by Nick.

The fox started looking at Nick his eyes started gleaming as he spoke. "So it's true, for all these years I've heard rumors and its true."

Nick felt afraid to speak but he did so with confidence, "What do you mean it's true?"

"Nick, I am your father, sigh where have all these years gone to. You have the eyes of your mother."

"Father? is it really true? i though you were gone from Zootopia?"

The Fox stands up and hugs Nick. "Join me son, join the shadow riders. We can achieve so much, haven't you seen what we already did?"

Nick pushes away his father. "Why should I? you're sending Zootopia into struggle! Why should I even think of helping you now, you left me and my mother!"

Tear's start flowing down his face. "I had to leave you. When I formed the group before you were born, the police started to hunt me down. I had no choice but to stop them fro hurting you and your mother."

"But why did even form the group in the first place!?" Nick questioned him.

"When I was working as a tailor I was requested in to a high ranking Zootopian official to prepare him a suit, when he left me there some documents caught my eyes. You won't believe what the prey were planning to do with us."

"But what did you find there?"

"They were planning to start mass production of these tame collars that would shock preds."

"Oh I get it now. The world isn't the same as it was, everything has changed. You should give yourself in father" Nick spoke with a sly.

The fox gave the a sigh as he ordered the men to take Nick away. "So be it, take him away make sure he doesn't remember."

As the fox's henchmen started to move onto Nick he quickly, knocked the weasel out and grabbed his pistol he than leaped out of harms way and tried to escape through the backdoor. The fox's henchmen were right on his tail.

As he ran through the door he heard one of the henchmen yell "Don't let him escape!" As he reached outside the courtyard was surrounded by a tall brick wall, there was a hole in the wall that he managed to slide into, now he was chased by the weasel. As he reached the end of the alleyway there was no other way to leave. As the weasel approached Nick he brandished a knife.

"It's now you and me copper." The weasel was now charging Nick, in seconds Judy appeared out of the shadows kicking the weasel and knocking him out.

"What took you so long carrots?" Nick remarked as he saw her cuffing the Weasel.

Judy's radio started buzzing. She answers the radio, "Ben, what is it?"

Ben was practically screaming now. "You've gotta get back to Bogo, the ZPD are in a standoff with the crims, any second now and they'll start shooting."

"Hiya Ben." Nick responded

Clawhauser replied back this time a a normal tone. "Oh hello Nicky long time..."Judy turned off the radio.

"Nick not now, follow me we gotta get back to Bogo!"

Nick and Judy at that moment were running as fast as they were able to, if they won't make it in time the ZPD will start engaging. As they reached the main lobby they could see ZPD officers in heavy Kevlar aiming their rifles down at the main dining hall, Bogo was holding a megaphone whilst trying to solve the situation. In the hallway tables were turned as Mr Wilde and his most trusted allies were taking cover and aiming back at the ZPD.

"Chief Bogo sir, mind if i'll take the megaphone?"

"Be my guest Wilde." Chief Bogo replies as he hands over megaphone to Nick.

Nick adjusts the megaphone and starts speaking to the Shadow riders. "Father listen to me! You've gotta give yourself in. You're surrounded there's no more need for blood shed."

Mr Wilde shouts back. "Give us a moment!."

After several minutes, the Shadow riders finally raised as a white flag as they dropped their weapons. ZPD officers rushed in to cuff them all, Nick followed the officers to find his father, but he wasn't there. Nick felt reassured.

 _"Well at least my father escaped, I don't wanna imagine what they would've done to him."_ Nick gave off a sigh as Judy came to him.

"Nick, this case isn't over..."

Nick interrupts Judy "and I bet you a dime that the Shadow riders are gonna be back. We gotta be ready." As Nick saw Chief Bogo approached him he saluted and made his report. "Sir Mr Wilde the leader of the shadow riders along with his assistant Mark have escaped."

Bogo could sense the tiredness in Nick's voice. "Officer Wildes and Officer Hopps you are dismissed for today, take a two day break. You both deserve it."

As Judy was about to object, Nick put a paw across her mouth and shushed her. "Come on Carrots, we should rest. This isn't the end."

"I have to agree with you on that point Nick."

Nick and Judy left the cafe and headed for a charger that was set for them. Emergency lights were flashing everywhere, reporters attempting to get an interview with the hero cops Judy and Nick. Officers were attempting to hold them off.A question arose in Nick's mind as he asked Judy. "Wait. Carrots where's Gerald?"

"No idea. I haven't seen him ever since we got to the town hall."

As Judy responded to him, Nick clutched his fist there was fury growing inside. Judy attempted to calm him down but Nick just pushed her away as he shouted. "TRAITOR!"

There was thunder as than rain started pouring down. Most of the onlookers and journalists were scurrying for cover as the rain hit hard, nobody has seen rain fall this hard for months. Nick was just sitting on his knees with Judy by his side, Nick felt betrayed that day. His latest partner that was close to him betrayed him and at the same day he found out his father was behind the raids. Fate sure was coming back at him.

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 ***As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter, reviews and feedback is appreciated. Cya next time.***


	8. Chapter 7 (The heart break)

Broken Hearts

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It kept pouring with rain as Nick sat in his small apartment. Judy couldn't fall asleep, she kept watching Nick sit there heartless. All night Nick just sat there while the strong wind and rain kept pouring down on Zootopia. Nick couldn't believe the fact that his father was behind all this and that his close partner Gerald betrayed him. He just didn't want to lose Judy, something made Nick sense that he was gonna lose her. He couldn't let his though blind him just as he told Gerald awhile ago.

Nick started thinking to himself, _"Gerald was probably the reason why those darn Shadow Riders were so organized and knew exactly when to strike."_ It was already after midnight, Nick was starting to fall asleep.

Judy spoke to him in a tired tone. "Nick, it's already morning and you haven't slept. The faster you fall asleep the faster we can solve the case." At that Judy convinced Nick to start sleeping.

He lay down on his large coach and attempted to start sleeping when Judy interrupted his sleep. "Nick you won't fall asleep, yawn, on that coach. Come lie down on your bed. I'll sleep on the coach. They argued for a good few minutes until Nick gave up and agreed to sleep with Judy in the same bed. They hugged each other and Nick gives Judy a small goodnight kiss, she blushes as they fall asleep together.

Nick awoke from the rattle of kitchen utensils, he started looking next to him. Judy was nowhere to be seen and he could smell baked food. Nick became paranoid so he grabbed his pistol which he had lying nearby and slowly peered over the corner. To his surprise Judy was sitting in a chair behind a table leaning with a blueberry pie next to her. Nick became calm, breathed in and out and than got changed into a green Hawaiian shirt and grey trousers.

Nick breathed out once more and walked into the kitchen calmly.

"Good Morning Nick." Judy replied as he rose in her seat

"Hey Carrots, what's this. Blueberry pie." Nick spoke and attempted to look surprised.

Nick was the first to start eating the pie. While he quietly ate Judy started looking through her notes. "I've found a trend Nick."

"Hmm?" Nick replied through mouthful.

"All the shadow riders are preds... They have been almost exclusively targeting prey. Any idea what their motive is?"

Nick gulped, as he replied. "Their motive is *gulp* they believe that the prey were planning to place these shock collars on us predators and that prey have a strong prejudice to us."

Judy became heart struck, "Nick, you don't mean to say you believe them?"

"I-I don't carrots, its just that, hes my father and hes been doing this so I would have a better future. Everything has just become so mixed up now."

Theres a moment of silence as Nick and Judy start thinking about the Shadow riders. The silence is broken as Judy starts holding Nick's paw. "Nick I wanted to tell you this for awhile now. Back at Bunny Burrows I sent an application to ZSD in regards to me resigning from the BBPD so I could serve with you together, yesterday I was gonna tell you but I couldn't find a better moment. I've gone to Precinct 1 this morning and picked up my new uniform, here let me get changed."

A minute later Judy walks out in a dark beige uniform along with a lightly armored green Kevlar vest along with her utility belt.

"You look as great as always Judy pops."

She starts spinning around in front of a mirror. "Is that one of your new nicknames?"

Judy's radio starts buzzing. "Staff Sargent Hopps, i'm guessing Sargent Wilde is near. After checking new surveillance footage we have possibly traced the Shadow Riders hideout. I want you to check it out, I've sent one of our best specialists to assist you. Chief out."

Shortly after there's a knock heard at the door, Judy walks up to it while Nick is still eating his pie. As she unlocks and opens the door, see shes Clawhauser dressed in combat uniform with a large backpack and a shotgun.

He is puffing hard as he screeches. "Water... I need water."

Judy quickly grabs a glass, fills it with tap water and passes it to Clawhauser asking him a question "What in Cheese and Crackers are you doing here Ben?"

"Ah much better," he takes off his bag along with his rusty shotgun. "Well, I was told that you two needed help so I agreed to join you."

Nick finally finishes eating his pie. "So, Ben about the hideout, where is it exactly?"

"Oh, about that. It's located in an abandoned train yard in tundra town."

"Than we should get going. A normal cruiser is gonna attract to much attention. I know a guy who can help us with getting a vehicle."

The trio pack their supplies, gear and go outside. Nick calls a cab Judy start's arguing with him about the fact that they are gonna travel in heavy combat gear in public transportation what will the public think of the ZPD, that they are so desperate they hire taxis?."Carrots, I've never had a terrible idea in my life."

"We'll wait and see Nick."

"Awww so cute, the pair arguing." Ben remarks as Judy snaps at him "Stop calling me cute Ben.

When the taxi driver arrived he was confused when he saw the trio wearing heavy combat armor.

"Pardon me officers, do you know who a Mr Wilde, he ordered a cab to this precise location."

"I'm Mr Wilde, can you take us to Tundra town?."

"Sure thing just uh mind putting your gear in the trunk?"

As the trio started packing away their gear into the trunk, Ben's bag took the whole space so Nick and Judy were forced to sit in the cabin in uncomfortable positions with their weaponry.

"You don't mean to tell me that we're going straight to the train yard?"

"Relax Carrots, were just gonna visit our old pals."

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 ***Hope you've been enjoying the story so far, I'd love to read your reviews. I wonder if you can guess who they are gonna visit. Cya until next time.**


	9. Chapter 8 (The train yard)

The Train Yard

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The trip was long as they got stuck in rush hour traffic, all around them people watched the officers in heavy combat gear as they passed them in the taxi. Finally they drove out of the highway they finally reached the rich district of Tundra Town.

They stopped in front of the gate to the neighborhood, "Here we are, that'll be $15.99."

Nick takes out his wallet, pays the fee and the trio grab their gear and head for the Mansion. As they walk up to the entrance they see Raymond standing at the gate wearing a suit. They walk up to him and Nick starts talking to Raymond in a formal tone. "Raymond, we wanna talk with Mr Big."

Raymond took a close look at the trio. "Alright follow me, the cheetah has to stay here, Mr Big doesn't want to see strangers."

"Don't worry Nick i'll stay here no biggy." Benjamin replies in advance to Nick as he sits down and makes himself comfortable.

They walk in and see another polar bear standing at the front door, Raymond briefly signals to him who than opens the door. They walk into the old mansion, the walls have snow through them, it feels a bit warmer than outside.

"Leave your weapons here, Mr Big doesn't want anyone talking to him with guns."

Nick drops his rifles and sidearms although Judy has a tranquilizer instead of a pistol she still has to drop it. They both walk into the main office room of Mr Big who was already in his chair along with Kozlov and the other bodyguards.

"What brings you here Nicky and the godmother of my granddaughter." Mr Big greets them with open arms.

"Mr Big you might know about the Shadow Riders. Were on the task to investigate their hideout here in Tundra Town."

Mr Big starts stroking his chin. "Shadow Riders you say, I have had the pleasure of meeting them. They wanted a partnership with me, but I refused. Their and my goals were mixing up."

"Mr Big sir, we need your help to reach them."

"What may I have the pleasure of helping you with?"

"In order to approach their hideout without being spotted we need a car and a distraction."

"I can arrange that. Meet us at the top floor."

The pair including Ben meet Mr Big at the top floor of the mansion.

Ben pulls out a map and places it on the floor. "As you see the abandoned train yard is located here, there are only two viable entrances we can go through so that us three can jump off without being spotted. I have chosen one that suits us well, its located on the southern side. The plan is, once the limo drives into the alleyway located here, we can dismount on the move, than the limo can head off to the main entrance. Note we suspect the area is well guarded with cameras so we will only have a very short time to execute the plan. Once the ZPD cross a frozen river they can reach the fence they can crawl under and hide behind some old rubble. During this time the Limo can drive in to distract the guards. Mr Big sir, you will be dismounting with your guards and awaiting for a hearing. Me, Judy and Nick can start recording the Shadow Riders and get proof that this is indeed their main hideout. We will have to wait for nighttime. Any questions?"

At that moment both parties agreed on the plan as they left to wait for the sun to settle. Once the Moon started to rise the Trio along with Mr Big and his bodyguards entered the limo and drove for the train yard. When reached the alleyway the car started to slowdown so the trio could hop out with their gear. The limo continued driving off as the trio started to crawl towards the lake. Their dark beige and navy blue uniform helped them to blend in apart from Ben's large backpack and the green Kevlar Nick and Judy wore.

As they approached the frozen river Judy stopped them. "I don't think the ice can withstand the heavy gear we're carrying. Ben you're gonna have to leave your bag here or maybe even stay here, you just won't be able to cross cause of your weight."

Ben sits on the snow. "That's a bummer, I really wanted to taste some of the action. Very well than i'll stay here and protect your escape route."

"Alright Ben, take care."

Nick threw his rifle over the river and started to slowly cross it. "Easy now." He spoke to himself. He made it over and Judy soon followed him.

They both climbed up the steep snowy hill and reached a chain link fence. Luckily Judy and Nick managed to use their special abilities by climbing over the fence which Nick did and digging underneath.

They approached some rubble. "Alright Nick this is it, lets make the world a better place." Judy spoke to Nick as she grabbed her phone to start recording.

At first all they could see was bright floodlights but than as their eyes settled they started seeing several large figures sitting under some shelter and discuss something. A bear including a wolf in police uniform walks up to a figure that appears to be Mr Wilde. _"Oh now. That's Gerald that filthy traitor arg. If I had the chance I would shoot him."_

"We are here to present you with an ultimatum Mr Wilde." The bear speaks with an outstretched arm.

Mr Wilde smirks as he replied. "You will never succeed. I was the one founded this, I still have power."

"Oh really, you are growing weak by the second. Because of your _wilde_ plans to recruit your son into our organization the police managed to capture some of our best members. Who knows how long it's gonna take before they talk and the police encircle us. Your cowardice to strike the prey is the most disturbing, we need a better leadership in order to succeed. You have two choices, give up your seat of power willfully or you will be forced off it." As the Bear finished the rest of the predators sitting at the table showed support for the Bear.

"I will give you an answer at the end of this night Mark. Meeting dismissed, I have someone who I have to talk with."

"Carrots I know that Bear. And that's Gerald my old partner."

Judy pushes pause on her phone and turns to Nick. "Who is he?"

"He is an old childhood bully, he hated prey and me including since I had a neutral view on both parties. Now I know why he wants the seat of power, he wants to strike at Zootopia and place fear among the prey. We have to tell Bogo, this is very serious."

A stick cracks behind them. Judy's nose starts twitching"We are not alone Nick, get ready for a fight." she whispers to him as they both draw their weapons.

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 ***Another chapter. Hope you enjoyed, reviews and feedback are appreciated. Have a great day.***


	10. Chapter 9 (The plan)

The plans

As the noise started coming closer Nick and Judy attempted to hide so they could get an advantage over the incoming stranger. The stranger came closer and Nick with his great night vision was able to recognize him first.

"Clawhauser!" Nick spoke as he started to lower his rifle.

"Wait Ben. What on Earth are you doing here? I though you couldn't cross the frozen river." Judy added

"I used the bridge." Clawhauser replied as he sat down near them.

Judy and Nick both widened their eyes as they spoke at the same time, "What bridge?"

Ben takes out a donut from his bag and starts eating it while talking. "I became bored so I decided to walk downstream. yum, great donut BTW. I saw a small log bridge, just big enough for me to cross."

"Did anyone spot you?" Judy spoke while trying to listen for anymore sounds."

"Nah they didn't. I was too sneaky for em. I did however spot something peculiar, barrels of gunpowder were being unloaded into a storehouse."

Nick drops his rifle and starts shaking, "Th-Thi-This is really bad, whatever they are planning to do with this gunpowder it isn't good, many lives can be in danger."

Judy starts calming him down. "Then we have to get back to Bogo, we are-"

Judy's radio starts buzzing. "We're heading for the regroup point, hope you won't be late."

Nick grabs his rifle and the trio start following Ben, they crawl behind cover as they reach an opening in a Brick wall where light is shining through blocking their access. They stop and Nick and Judy wait for an answer.

Ben starts peeking the corner, "The light wasn't on when I came, someone's coming, hide."

There's a crack in the brick wall that Nick looks through. He sees Mark and Gerald wearing uniform walking out of the warehouse.

They both stop as Mark talks to Gerald. "I hope you remember what you've got to do, don't you dare fail me."

Gerald walks up to the open van and grabs a bag from inside, he straps it onto his back.

"Don't worry Mark, I've done it before. Nobody will notice a thing. He unholsters a revolver, attaches a suppressor and holsters it. They both head back into the factory.

The trio use this opportunity to slip by the gap and cross the bridge. As they jog towards the meeting point, Nick clutches his fist in anger. _"I would've ripped Gerald to pieces for betraying me if I had the chance, arg."_

They finally reach the alleyway where they see the limo waiting. They enter the limo and drive off.

Mr Big looks disturbed he keeps looking down with one paw under his chin. "Nicky, well everyone. I have some unfortunate news. Your father knew that you were coming, he had some very disturbing news he wanted me to pass onto you. He is losing his seat of power and the rise of Mark is a great danger to all of Zootopia. If he does succeed in becoming the head of operations for the group than a series of attacks will happen that will cripple the economy and put Zootopia into an age of struggle."

The trio become shocked at these grave news, "So what you're saying is that Mark doesn't want to keep the original agenda and wants to strike violently?"

"Precisely Nicky, since they are a problem to my own operations I will have my men detour these Shadow Riders, but I'm not promising anything. I have arranged for my driver to take us straight to precinct 1."

For the rest of the trip not a single word was spoken between anyone. The morning chill was starting to grow as the moon started to set. The limo finally reached precinct 1, Nick and Ben are the first to step out.

Judy steps out of the limo after them, she looks back towards Mr Big. "We thank you for your help Mr Big from all of the ZPD."

One of the bears closes the limo door and Mr Big replies through the open window, "And to you, good luck with your journey godmother of my granddaughter."

The limo drives off and Judy heads up the stairs to meet up with Ben and Nick. They walk in through the main entrance and head for main desk. There they see an elephant sitting reading some newspaper. They approach desk and Ben leans against it.

Ben was the one to do the talking. "Hey Kev, is the Chief here?"

The elephant briefly looks up and stops reading the newspaper to reply to Ben. "Yeah in the briefing room with the rest of the higher ups, some sort of 'emergency meeting'. " he resumes reading the paper.

Ben looks at the time and than turns to the pair. "That's strange, chief never comes this early."

They walk through the dim corridors what used to be a bustle during work hours, was now emptiness and tranquility. They enter the main hallway inside the only light was coming from the briefing room. They approach it inside they could hear many voices.

They knock three times, everyone goes quiet as a voice comes from the door "Come in."

They enter, inside they see at least a dozen officers ranked higher than a Sargent dressed in combat gear around a table set in the middle of the room with a map.

They salute as Chief Bogo looks at them sternly, "how did the investigation go?"

Nick nudges Judy forward, "It went badly chief."

Nick steps in and tries to push Judy aside, "What Staff Sargent Hopps is trying to say is that, we found the hideout but their plans are very disturbing."

Bogo starts getting curious, "Well spit it out Wilde."

"The Shadow Riders are currently unorganized and very uncoordinated since they have a power struggle happening between two of the most powerful figures in the group. Officer Hopps managed to record one of their sessions, the criminals also have a warehouse possibly filled with firearms including gunpowder."

"Alright Hopps show me the video." Bogo speaks as he adjusts his glasses.

Judy walks up to him phone in hand and shows their meeting, the video was a bit bright but Bogo got the whole picture.

Bogo takes off his glasses, "This bad news for the whole department, anyone got any ideas on how we can react?"

A lion ranking captain starts speaking, "As Sargent Wilde said since they are in a power struggle, we could wait out until an internal war happens between them and than attack. Any objections?"

A tiger ranking lieutenant responds, "What if they do not get into an internal war and become stronger after the power shift? We could become sitting ducks."

Chief Bogo interrupts, "Those are some good points, how about you Officer Hopps? what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, we could act now and catch them when they least expect it by entering into a long standoff. This way we can insure no more harm can be done outside off their hideout to the ordinary citizens."

"Alright, I wanna see a show of hands on who agrees with Officer Hopps and who disagrees."

Half of the officers agree with Judy the rest disagree with her stating that the Captain's. The whole room starts turning into mayhem as both starts enter an argument.

"Enough, Shut up all of you. In order to end this stalemate we'll ask officer Wilde on his though." Chief Bogo signals to Nick to start talking.

Nick takes a deep breath "Whatever we choose, we should pick quickly. If you didn't the current leader of the Shadow Riders is my father, if all the stories I was told about him are true than Mark should be the new leader already. If we do not act quickly, than many lives will be lost, Mark who I know since my old childhood isn't opportunist, he doesn't wait for the ripe moment to strike, he will do anything to complete his goals. I have to be honest with you, fate hasn't been my friend ever so recently. It should be up to all of you to decide on what we should choose." After Nick finishes speaking everyone cheers for him.

Everyone looks at Bogo for the final answer. "Than it is decided, we shall start our first strike tomorrow morning, I want Hopps, Wilde, Clawhauser, Mcgorney, Williams and Jeffrey to stay, everyone else dismissed!"

Once the rest of the Officers left Bogo started scheming a plan. "That was a good presentation you gave Wilde."

Nick replies to Bogo with sarcasm "Thank you kindly sir."

"Cut it Wilde. Alright you said you saw a dozen and a large factory lets look on the map. Based on their capability to strike at several location with good precision, we can estimate how much thugs they have in the factory based on some basic factors. To guard such a large facility so well, we'll guess they have at least 7 thugs including someone in the security room watching the cameras. We saw through Judy's footage that they had 8 present. Lets say they have 15 thugs inside of their barracks in case they get attacked or are required for missions since there was five burglaries and around three thugs raided each place. Lets say they have 3 guys doing logistics that means they have..."

As soon as Bogo started calculating Judy steps in. "It's 33."

"Alright Hopps, lets say they got 35 thugs just to be sure in the train yard. If we are planning to surround them we'll need at least twice the amount, including a few men to do intelligence. Precinct 1 alone has enough manpower to take them down, but I want you Hopps and Wilde to head to the radio room and contact Inspector Earlborough from the tactical unit, they are currently out in the field training. I want you to tell him Chief Bogo sent you and that we require 20 officers including snipers and explosive specialists by this evening. Alright Hopps, Wilde dismissed."

Judy and Nick salute as they casually walk towards the radio room. "You know Nick i'm very nervous, I've never been in a full out armed raid and seeing Mark I'm guessing we wont be ending the case without a gunshot.

Nick places his paw around Judy's shoulder, "You know Judy you remind me of Gerald, he was also nervous about carrying a weapon and pointing it at someone. Alright, I think this is the place."

Nick reads the sign. "Radio Room, restricted entry."

Nick opens the door, inside he sees Gerald standing behind the desk with the radio and a device that seemed like an explosive with a remote next to it. As soon as Gerald heard Nick and Judy walk in he bashes the radio with his revolver and grabs the remote holding it right in front of him. Nick and Judy both raise their sidearms, pistol and tranquilizer gun.

Gerald yells at them, "Not a step Nick and you rabbit."

Nick starts stepping closer to Gerald "What are you doing here traitor!? You should've stayed at your train yard."

"I'm warning you Nick. One more step and not a single smudge of this room will remain. You should've stayed at Bunny Burrows Officer Hopps, it's dangerous for a small bunny to be out here."

"You should give up Gerald. You know you won't leave this building alive."

"Oh I will, soon the ZPD will end, I will bring all your secrets back and the shadow riders will rise muahahahha." Gerald starts coughing as he tries to clear his throat. "Pardon me."

At this point Nick realized Gerald had gone insane, he had to act quickly and grasp this opportunity while Gerald was distracted.

He whispers to Judy "I'm taking the shot Carrots."

Nick trusted his instincts, he had to take the shot. He Grips his pistol with both paws and aims his sights onto Gerald, keeping them there he closed his eyes briefly and breathed in _"I hope fate decides" he_ opens his eyes and with all his fury he pulls back on the trigger. A loud bang is heard, in a split second the bullet was halfway to its destination.

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 ***Hope you enjoyed this chapter, reviews are appreciated. You all are sure gonna get into a big plot twist type deal.***


	11. Chapter 10 (Intelligence)

Intelligence

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The bullet ripped through the remote and heavily injured Gerald's paw, the intense force made him stagger a bit as attempted to apply pressure and grab his revolver at the same time. Unfortunately for him Judy already had it and the pair were aiming their weapons at him.

Gerald raised his uninjured paw showing them that he was unarmed. "Relax Nick, I give up."

Nick slowly walks up to Gerald, he holsters his pistol and cuffs Gerald and forces him to sit against the wall while he analyses the damage. Judy opens a first aid cabinet on the wall and grabs some medical equipment. She kneels down next to Gerald and starts covering the injury with antiseptic and bandages his wounded paw.

Gerald grunts in pain as Judy continues to attend to his injury, "Quiet, don't make it more painful than it is."

"Carrots, I'm no engineer but it seems to me that this radio is toast. Did you manage to contact your leader? Speak!"

Gerald smiles. "I will die before I tell you anything."

Nick squats in front of Gerald with his gun down. "We were such great partners, why did you betray me?"

"He he he, they offered me money and power in exchange for my services. I'm a great intelligence officer so they wanted me to help their order, I joined them before I even met you."

The pair hear a voice coming from the door, as the door opens they see Chief Bogo. "Wilde why haven't you contacted... you got him excellent, officers take him away!"

Two officers walk in through the doorway grab Gerald roughly and take him away. "So did you contact the Earlborough?"

Judy points at the radio, "Chief Bogo sir, he damaged the radio and he also placed an explosive device but we stopped it from detonating. We won't be able to contact anyone until it gets repaired."

"Very well than, I'll have an explosives specialist disarm it. I want you officer Hopps to take a cruiser and head out north past the meadows and reach Inspector Earlborough..."

Nick started remembering, _"Oh no, the events of my dream are starting to become reality. I've gotta stop Judy from leaving or make sure she reaches there in time."_

"Chief sir, I don't believe it's wise to have Hopps leave."

Chief Bogo turns on him, "What! Are you trying to question my orders?"

"What i'm saying is that officer Hopps is needed here on the front lines instead of being a courier."

Chief Bogo was about to argue with Nick when he stopped and though for a second. "That is a good point, but Judy is the fastest officer currently available. Who do you suggest I send huh?"

"How about Clawhauser. He is a cheetah and boy are they fast."

"But hes just a - argh. Alright, I will send Clawhauser but pray that he reaches the inspector in time."

"But sir can't he just use a helicopter?"

"You think I got a helicopter available and decided not to send it out in such a dire need."

Bogo walks outside with the pair following him. Bogo was getting restless with Nick so an idea sparked in his mind. "Oh I know, I need you to check the equipment and arrange maintenance if needed. Officer Hopps can accompany you if you require." Bogo shuts the door in front of them.

Judy looks at Nick and shakes her head. "You sure did anger him, what's in the bag anyway?"

Nick opens the tan bag that Gerald always carried with him. Inside he finds extra ammunition, a short range radio, camera and some folders. He decides to check through the folder, "Huh details on the assignment Bogo gave him... A map of Zootopia with locations of all police stations and infrastructure marked out. It appears Gerald wanted to give these to Mark. We should keep this radio and see if anyone attempts to call us on it."

Judy grabs the camera and checks through it's memory. "Whoa, hes got pictures of some closed of locations. We should give this to Bogo."

Bogo walks in through the door with the mayor next to him, "I would like you to meet our two most finest officers, Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde."

The Mayor shakes paws with Judy and Nick, "Nice to meet you sir."

"Alright enough of greetings, I have decided to enact an emergency meeting with the Mayor in regards to our dire situation with the Shadow Riders. The Mayor has past military experience so he's gonna help us plenty."

"Yes, yes I do. Lets go to your office Bogo." Bogo leads Mayor and the pair follow them sorrowfully. They were angered by the fact Bogo assigned them to maintenance duty, worse than being a meter-maid. After walking up a flight of stairs they finally reach Bogo's office.

"Mr mayor please take a seat in my chair behind the desk." The mayor and Bogo sit down behind the desk while Judy and Nick are forced to stand.

"So Mr mayor as you can see on the map the criminal organization known as Shadow Riders are located here. We believe they have setup their main base of operations in an abandoned train yard in Tundra Town. We estimate that they have around two score worth of henchmen on site and possibly even more around Zootopia."

Judy uses the silence as an opportunity to tell Bogo her findings. "Sir, we've found images and markings on Gerald's map and camera of important Zootopia infrastructure and police stations. We suspect that they are planning to target these sites."

"Hmm. This indeed is bad news, we should mobilize all available officers and intercept the threat at the train yard, what say Bogo?" The Mayor questions Bogo while looking on the map.

"Mr mayor we have planned - "

The Mayor interrupts Bogo, "You shouldn't plan, you should act. I have a meeting with the department of commerce soon so I have to go. I hope you wipe this threat out with haste."

"Yes Mr Mayor."

The Mayor leaves his seat and as he starts to walk outside he speaks to Bogo, "This Officer Hopps, I believe she deserves to help you make plans instead of doing maintanance."

"How did you know Mr Mayor?" Bogo responds in confusion.

"I've served in the military for years, anyone who got assigned to the dirty work always felt this down. I have some old contacts in the military i'll be sure to give you a hand, oh look at the time i have to go."

"Bye Mr Mayor." Bogo breathes in and speaks to the pair without looking at them, "I will let you two assists me with making plans, orders from the mayor are orders especially if he has knowledge in this field. Now go and organize plans, dismissed."

The two salute and walk outside and a tiger walks pasts them inside. "Lieutenant good that you came, close the door will you."

As the pair start to descend the stairs Nick starts speaking to Judy "I'm telling you Carrots, everything is gonna become worse, i'm sensing it. Might as well grab a map of the train yard, I can write the plans you can do the research."

"Sly Fox."

Nick smirks in reply "Dumb bunny."

They head for the main desk in the lobby to find a spare room to start their job. Already the station was becoming lively, the whole lobby was filled with civilians and officers alike. They headed for the briefing room which was empty, sat behind a desk and started planning.

Hours went by when at noon Nick had a great plan with which Judy assisted him greatly, "Judy I have a decent plan written we just have to find Chief Bogo first."

As soon as Nick finished his sentence Chief Bogo entered the room, "Excellent timing sir, I finally have a plan."

Bogo leans against the table with his hooves. "Alright than show me the plan."

Nick starts pointing on the map where he has all sorts of entrances and secrets marked. "So, we found out that there's a series of old subway tunnels going under the train yard, there's an access shaft from the train yard to the subway. There's also a series sewer tunnels going under the yard just big enough for a small mammal..."

His words are cut short as a loud alarm goes off and two officers rush through the door, "Sir we got a situation!"

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 ***Hope you enjoyed this chapter, reviews and feedback are appreciated. Have a great day.***


	12. Chapter 11 (This is war)

This is war

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"What do you mean we got a situation? What's going on?"

One of the officers replies back to Bogo, "Chief, when I decided to check the armory I saw a black paw print on the metal door from the inside and a note was stuck to it. Here chief the note."

Bogo grabs the note and reads it out loud, "Fear us, the Shadow Riders will strike back and there will be nothing you can do." Bogo scrunches up the paper and throws it into the bin.

"Was anything taken from the armory?"

The other officer steps forward he breathes in and responds, "Chief sir, they stole a few rifles and ammunition. We are currently searching the building."

"This is unacceptable. I'm alerting the mayor, officer Hopps, Wilde I want you to investigate this matter. I trust you can find out how they got in. Officer Johnston can accompany you to the armory. Dismissed!"

The three salute and head outside. They reach the armory, two officers are standing there with their rifles guarding.

One of the officer stands firm, "This area of off limits."

Johnston walks up to them, "Relax these two are with me. Go get a break."

"Thank you sir, I mean understood captain sir." The two salute and walk off.

Judy takes a closer look at the armory door. "Huh, this is the same paw print as at Bunny Burrows."

Nick steps inside of the armory room, a large vault like door guarding the armory. "Hey Captain, was the door locked when you came?"

"It was indeed, i'm so confused how did they break in?" Johnston replies.

Nick looks around the room; the whole place seems normal apart from the missing rifles. He takes a closer look at the rifle cabinet, it's unlocked and the lock isn't damaged. _"Seems like they acted pretty swiftly they only took 4 rifles."_ Nick thinks to himself as he examines the cabinet.

Judy and Johnson walk in. "what did you find Nick?"

"The rifles are missing and the lock was picked. No idea how they broke in"

"There aren't any prints on the big paw mark neither, probably some sort of template they use. Once again not a single trace"

Johnson looks up at the vents and sees something, "Say, the vent cover is missing. Think they came through there?"

Nick and Judy look at the vents, "To small, even if someone did make it through how would they get the rifles back through there? There has to be another answer to this."

The trio start looking around the armory for clues. An hour passes and they don't find anything until one moment Judy hears dripping water.

"I hear water, echoes of water." Judy presses her ear against a wall. "It's coming through there."

Nick starts taking a look at the wall. "This wall, it's just a big slab of concrete."

Nick leans against the wall, "I don't..." To their confusion the wall slides backwards revealing a small passage way.

"Whoa." Nick shouts in surprise as he nearly falls.

Judy peers through the passage way. "This is truly interesting; it seems like there's a ladder that leads down to an old cavern or something along those lines."

She pulls out her phone to illuminate the tunnel, "That's a lot of moss, and it smells phew. Looks like this leads to the sewers, maybe it's how the thieves got in?"

Nick looks down the tunnel and then looks back at Johnson, "Captain, can we see the construction plans to precinct 1?"

Johnston shrugs, "No idea if I can find them, but I'll try." Johnston leaves the armory in search for the plans.

Nick welcomes Judy to the tunnel, "After you Carrots."

Judy climbs down the ladder and turns her phone light on she observes the long sewer tunnels and soon Nick is along her side.

"Nick these tunnels they seem to stretch forever; this could mean the shadow riders could strike almost any place using sewers."

"I can't imagine what they could do if these sewers lead to every place in Zootopia, we should report this to Bogo, either way it smells."

As Judy and Nick started heading back for the ladder they hear a noise. Nick whispers to Judy, "Quick hide someone's coming."

They spot two large figures with rifles and flashlights attached on them, one a lion with a bag on his back and the other a hyena. The two carefully walk through the long sewers, they had stains and dirt on their clothing. "Ronald he-he-heh why are we even patrolling the sewers? Nobody is going to even travel down here but NO, Mark has us patrolling for no apparent reason."

"Good question, my mane is starting to get dirty after all this walking in this filth. I wish we didn't volunteer for 'adventure' and visiting 'unseen' places aka the sewers."

The Hyena raises his rifle and starts pointing it all over the sewer, "he-he-heh I just heard something, someone's here."

"Relax Bronson, your paranoid it's just water dripping." the lion calms the hyena as they head down the sewers.

Nick and Judy look at each other, "This is even worse that we thought, lets head back to the armory."

The pair climb up ladder and are met by the Captain. "Alright here are the construction plans, there's no sewer entrance marked in the armory. Also the Mayor has enacted an emergency assembly with some high ranking officials of the ZPD, he wants you two to attend. There's a car waiting for you two and the Chief."

"Alright Captain, thanks for the help."

"My pleasure, make sure that you catch those crims good."

The trio shake paws as the pair depart for the outside. As they walk through the main lobby they see police officers in all kind of combat gear assembling in ranks and being briefed by their higher ups. There were some civilians waiting on benches, now it was no secret that the ZPD were gearing up. They entered a black luxury car with a beacon on top with was spinning bright blue. Inside they saw Chief Bogo reviewing some papers.

"Hey Chief."

Bogo looks at him sternly, "This is no time for friendship, Mayor has initiated an emergency assembly in town hall. This can only mean one thing; we are going to be mobilizing our forces."

* * *

The car finally arrives at town hall, there were many other limos and luxury cars parked in front with beacons on top which are owned by high ranking officials and government members alike. At the front entrance there are dozens of journalists trying to break through the police keeping the area off limits while the assembly was on. As the pair followed Bogo they could see a group of helicopters flying by which didn't have ZPD markings and had dark black camo paintings. They entered the town hall with ease as there was a small gap cornered off by tape for the arriving officials. Inside there was a bustle of activity as several mammals dressed in either suits or uniforms are entering the large auditorium hall. Inside there is a row of seating setup all facing the central stage which had a podium, behind it a large screen reading, 'Zootopia's 3rd Emergency Assembly'.

The pair follow Bogo and sit in their allocated seating behind a desk reading 'ZPD Precinct 1'. On their right they see three officers sitting behind a desk reading 'ZPD Precinct 2.' Judy and Nick stand out between the police officers due to their lower rank. Some of the other nameplates on the other desks read, 'ZFD Central Urban Division' 'ZEMS Main Department' and 'Zootopia Internal Defense Task Force' to name a few. A spotlight aiming at the podium lights up and the whole hall becomes silent.

The Mayor walks onto the stage he places some papers onto the podium and starts speaking, his voice booming through the auditorium speakers. "This is the time of urgent distress, a criminal group known as the 'Shadow Riders' are rising from the shadows. At first it was though that they are just thieves but after further investigations involving a jail break, failed raid on the town hall archives and now a burglary on the armory of the finest department of the ZPD, precinct 1. This is truly outrageous, experts from precinct 1 believe that these criminals have a stockpile of weapons including explosives and are hiding in an abandoned train yard. After consulting with my advisers I have decided to place the shadow riders under the category of code red this means I have enacted the mobilization of officers and troops. We must take extra pre cautions, Zootopia is a large and dense city which means even a small attack can result in life of innocent citizens. I want to inform all of you in regards to this, further orders will be given to each department's head, more direct orders will be given to precinct 1 and the internal defense forces who will operate together to crush these terrorists. Precinct 2, 3 and 4 will be closely protecting the main infrastructure of Zootopia. This is all for now, I hope you are ready, if we do not strike now than it will be too late to act and Zootopia will turn into an age of struggle and distress. This is all."

A large roar of applause is heard as the mayor walks off stage, everyone then discusses plans with the others at their desk.

"Chief." Judy tries to catch the attention of Bogo who was speaking with the Precinct 2 Chief.

"What is it Hopps, I hope you got something good to tell me."

"Sir we found out how the Shadow Riders broke into the armory. When Officer Wilde leaned against the wall it slid back and revealed a passage way to the main sewer system of Zootopia. We believe the sewers lead to the train yard and other sites which are very important to the Shadow Riders since this is probably how they travel so undetected."

"This changes everything Hopps, we should inform the mayor. Follow me."

The trio leave their seats as they head for the backstage. All around them police officers discuss plans on how to act against this new threat.

As they walked through the backstage curtain they saw the Mayor marking out plans on a large table with the map of the train yard and surrounding area. He was accompanied with some officials wearing military uniform.

Bogo walks up to the mayor and whispers into his ear and hands over the plans Nick and Judy created. The mayor looks down on the map with the plans in hand.

"If these shadow riders do have a large network of sewers that they use than we could use this as an advantage. I'll give a ring to the sanitary department, they could help us use this new route to strike at the shadow riders."

The mayor looks down at Nick and Judy, "You have proven yourselves well. I will make sure that you get a commendation now back to work."

The trio look down at the map with the mayor, "Looking at the map, these shadow riders have themselves defended pretty well, there are only three viable options for us. The road leading from the west, the train tracks on the north and the sewer system. The frozen river is too thin for us to cross unless we setup a log bridge. Since it is hard to approach the yard this means it's hard for them to escape. If we surround them we can force them to surrender, we must be vigilante it's suspected they have small cells around the city which are ready to strike at any given moment. I have around four precincts and one internal defense force unit on the ready with the ZPD Tactical Unit will be arriving in a while. I want you three to take a rest so you feel fresh when we start our attack, meeting ended."

The trio salute and leave the backstage, the shadow riders are on their minds as they head home to rest.

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 ***Hope you enjoyed. Reviews and feedback are appreciated. I won't be uploading anymore chapters for a few days, gotta refresh my mind.***


	13. Chapter 12 (Armed and dangerous)

Armed and dangreous

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The key turned and Nick opened the door to his apartment turning on the lights the pair fell onto the couch in exhaustion. The sun was starting to set and it became colder by the minute. They lay there for several minutes until Nick rose and suggested. "Carrots we can't lay on the couch all night, we should take a shower and head to bed."

Judy slowly lifts her head to look at Nick, "Alright but you go first so I'll get a warm shower."

Nick grabs a spare shirt and boxers and heads for the shower, "Sly bunny."

"Dumb Fox."

* * *

After a few minutes Nick came into the bedroom wearing his night clothing, Judy quickly walked into the bathroom. Nick places his uniform into the wardrobe right next to his old ZPD one. He spots a small orange object lying onto of some suitcases. He grabs the object and realizes it's Judy's old carrot pen.

He decides to play back any message that might have been stored on it, to his surprise a message played back. 'you know you love me. Do I know know that? Yes, yes I do.'

A smile rose on Nick's face, he loved Judy for all these years. He never really proposed to her and Nick felt that after the shadow riders case was solved he could propose for them to live together. He placed the carrot pen into his utility belt and lay in bed.

Shortly after Judy lay with Nick in her night gown, they lay there for a few a seconds until Nick breathed out. "Judy, I-I wanna say, I lo-love you carrots I've meant to say this for two years now."

Judy blushes as he replies, "I love you to Nick, but we've gotta concentrate on the Shadow Riders case before we let our relationship get in the way."

Nick sighs, "Alright, I just wanted you to know."

"I love you to Nick."

Nick turns off the bedside lamp and they both start sleeping facing each other.

* * *

The sun rose as the bright rays woke up Nick and Judy. It was going to be a really sunny day with not a single cloud in the air. the streets seemed more empty than they used to be.

Judy looked at the time as Nick was just getting out of bed, "Nick its 8:00 we're gonna be late."

"C'mon Carrots don't worry, I'm not the one to get late."

The pair quickly dressed in separate rooms, put on their and got into Nick's car. Unfortunately for them, they got stuck in rush hour traffic. The sun was now blazing above them, Nick tried to turn on the air conditioning but the fan didn't work.

Nick face palmed against the steering wheel, "Argh. Carrots, what could possibly go wrong?"

Judy looks at the digital clock on her phone "You mean like us getting late!"

Rush hour traffic seemed to extend forever down the road, the sun blazing above them wasn't any help either and coming late to the department was going to be a big problem for them.

* * *

Finally Nick and Judy arrived at precinct 1 after nearly half an hour of being stuck in traffic. They hastily walked into precinct 1, inside they saw officers in combat gear lining up in ranks both ZPD, ZSD and even the ZTU in their dark black uniform. They both saw Clawhauser walking in circles in panic while holding a clipboard.

The pair approached Clawhauser and remarked his actions, "Ben you made it back! What's happening?"

Clawhauser stopped while facing the pair and read through his notes, "Were starting the operation today. Also you're late, Bogo wants you two in the briefing room ASAP!"

Nick and Judy walked through the long hallway, around them officers running back and forward, everyone was getting ready to start.

Judy knocked on the door and they heard a voice, "Come in!"

Inside they saw several officers standing behind a table with Bogo while looking at the large map of the trainyard, next to them was a portable long range radio.

"Officers Hopps, Wilde you both are late."

"Sir we-"

Bogo cuts off Judy from speaking, "No excuses, here's the plan. You two will be leading a team of 5 ZSD officers each. Everyone except Hopps and Wilde dismissed!"

The officers salute and leave the room. There's a moment of silence as Bogo checks through his notes.

"Alright here's the plan, Staff Sargent Hopps you and your team will be posting at the frozen river. Your task is to act as the vanguard and over watch, we got two trained snipers from the ZSD who will be in your team..."

Nick started day dreaming "Bogo _is probably gonna give me a terrible assignment. Sigh I wonder if my father still has some power, I hope none of the officers shoot him..."_

"Sargent Wilde! Sargent Wilde Focus!"

"Oh yes sir."

 _"_ Wilde this is your time to shine, you are your team will be navigating through the sewers. Your task, to approach undetected and attack the Shadow Riders from within. Once your team reaches the train yard we will signal the attack to commence. Take prisoners if possible but remember, they are code red so weapons green. Clawhauser will lead you to your men where I will brief all of you once more. Dismissed!"

The two salute and start heading through the door.

"I nearly forgot, officer Hopps, the department has created a new version of the standard M9 service pistol. It is more smaller than the standard and was created especially for an officer of your eh... size."

Bogo takes out a small handgun and several magazines from a case and hands it over to Judy. Judy looks at the gun with awe, she never though that she would ever get a real weapon instead of her tranquilizer gun.

Judy salutes, "To serve and protect sir!"

"Alright, now dismissed!"

The two head out of the room, Judy's new weapon gleaming in the light. Her pistol nothing compared to the mighty carbine rifle that Nick has slinged on his back. She holsters her weapon and places the spare ammunition into her ammo pouch, the pair shinning as they walk to the main lobby where their teams await them. They walk up to Clawhauser who is busy sorting everyone out.

"Ben, we're here to receive our teams."

"Alright, you see there at the back? The dark beige uniform. Left is Judy's right is Nick's. I've got work to do so go." Clawhauser responded as he handed them over the dossiers.

Judy and Nick approached their new teams after seeing them Nick wished Judy luck as he walked over to his team.

Nick takes out the dossiers as he murmurs to himself, "These guys seem bright enough."

Once the officers see Nick they stand up straight and salute. Nick takes off his aviators as he reads the dossiers. "Alright at ease. Lets see here, Corporal Willard, Corporal Bryan ,Officer Daniels, Officer Gorkey. Alright everyone here,, Corporal Willard you are designated as my right hand. Present weapons."

The five officers took their rifles off the bench and held them infront for Nick to check. His team has 4 carbine rifles and 1 shotgun not including Nick's rifle and their sidearms.

"I hope you got your..." The officers take out their flashlights and attach them to their weapons. "flashlights. Impressive, alright Chief is coming lets line up."

All the teams lineup in ranks and salute as Bogo arrives. Clawhauser salutes and hands over the documents to Bogo.

"No time to chat, Captain McGorney and Lieutenant Frost van 1. Lieutenant Williams and Lieutenant Jeffrey Van 2. Staff Sargent Hopps and Sargent Wilde Van 3. Each of the team leaders will have a radio tuned in to a set frequency from which I can communicate with you while on the field. Remember your training and good luck! Mission is a go. Dismissed!

The whole lobby appeared to move as the different teams moved outside and into their designated vehicles, Bogo, Clawhauser and a few other officers boarded a heli waiting on a landing pad outside. All the officers felt courage and also fear as they were going up against an armed foe.

* * *

 ***Hope you enjoyed another chapter that I created for you guys. Feedback and reviews are appreciated, enjoy!***


	14. Chapter 13 (The tunnels)

The tunnels

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The police convoy started moving, the first two vans were full as they slowly started moving while the last van was only half full. The three vans were accompanied by a cruiser leading the convoy and the helicopter that was already heading for tundra town. The convoy had no problem navigating through the busy streets as they met up with two other dark black vehicles while on the move.

One of the officers spotted the vehicles as they started to follow them, "Sarge. What are those two vehicles following us?"

Nick briefly looks through the tinted backdoor window and continues to examine the dossiers, "That Daniels are our glorious military riding in heavily armored apcs while we get to enjoy the view."

The convoy continued driving down the long highway, traffic was starting to become lighter as rush hour ended. They finally reached their first drop off point near the train yard and the convoy stopped.

Nick's radio buzzed, "Delta 5 come in."

"This is Delta 5 I hear you loud and clear Chief."

"I told you it's Alpha 1. Arg fine, dismount and head across the street."

Nick and his team exit through the back of the van and head across the street while the convoy continues driving down the street. They reach a sewer mammalhole and attempt to open it up.

"Damnit there's no way we are going in without prying it open it with something. Any ideas Willard?"

Corporal Willard responds, "Officer Gorkey, don't you have a tool for this job?"

Officer Gorkey slings his carbine onto his back and exchanges it with a crowbar, "This should do it sir."

Gorkey places the crowbar into the sewer cover and with his sheer force he pops it out and two other officers move it away.

Nick pats Gorkey on the back, "Great job Gorkey, we should close the cover once we descend down the ladder."

As Nick climbed down the ladder his radio buzzed again, "Delta 5 here's the navigation – follow the second tunnel – don't turn- *static*"

Nick desperately speaks into the radio, "Chief? Come in chief! Damn static."

Once Nick reached the bottom he turned on his flashlight and aimed it up the ladder so the rest of his team could safely climb down once the cover was closed. Gorkey was the last to climb down and close the cover due to him being the strongest. The team grouped up on Nick who was shining his flashlight on a crude map of the sewers.

"Let's see, the train yard is north from here so we have to follow the tunnel that way. Chief said something about following the second tunnel but he got cut off as I descended. Let's see, each tunnel has a designation number near the ladder."

Nick looks at the ladder and spots a number. He looks back down on the map, "E-65... E-65… Oh here it is, this tunnel merges with... E-64 which leads straight into the train yard. We just have to stick to the right wall."

Nick folds his map and attaches the flashlight onto his rifle. He turns it on and speaks to his team, "If our intelligence is correct the Shadow Riders are pretty much exclusively predators meaning they have some good night vision. If we keep our flashlights on we could confuse the enemy and take the first strike."

Everyone turns on their already attached flashlights and start following Nick down the long tunnel, "Daniels watch our back, Bryan take point you got the shotgun. Gorkey watch left and i'll watch right."

They continue walking down the long tunnel, water starting to rise in level as they descend further down the endless tunnels. The team reaches a grate with a lock on it that's blocking them from going deeper into the sewers.

Nick assesses the situation and gives orders, "Gorkey break this grate lock, everyone else setup a perimeter while he does that."

As Gorkey pulls out his crowbar faint sounds echo from the distant tunnel on the other side of the grate. Gorkey briefly stops and waits for the signal from Nick to continue breaking the lock. After a few seconds Nick gives the all clear and Gorkey breaks the lock in no time. Nick signals to Bryan who rushes through the open entrance, the rest of the team soon follow.

Nick pulls out the map, "Willard shine your flashlight. Alright lets see, this tunnel leads straight to an intersection with E-64 so we just have to turn right and follow the tunnel which should lead us straight to the train yard." Nick folds his map and readies his rifle, "Lets get a move on, I'll take lead rest of you follow me. Now move."

The team start jogging along the tunnel, water was now at Nick's knees as he attempted to lift his feet. They were jogging with heavy combat gear for at least 10 minutes Everyone was now panting as the tunnel was finally ascending.

Nick ordered a short rest break which resulted in everyone collapsing into a neat pile. All of the officers pulled out snacks while Nick was studying the sewer map with a fixed glaze. Daniel stood up and sat next to Nick, "Sarge, when are we gonna even reach the train yard? We've been running for over 20 minutes now."

Nick responds to Daniel while his eyes are fixed on the endless tunnel, "Jogging not running and 10 minutes not 20. Also based on this map we need to turn right but I see a small dug out passage way that seems to lead straight towards the train yard."

Daniel stands up faces the passage way and starts sniffing, "I can sense something through this passage way... I have a bad feeling about this."

Nick instantly stands up and brandishes his rifle, "Everyone up break over! We're gonna head through the small dug out passage, follow me."

The team approaches the passage way and follow Nick through it. The dug out passage way seemed to be done by paw and the ceiling was being holdup by wooden logs so it won't cave in. The whole passage way seemed to have been dug out in a hurry as it wasn't done in a professional manner. As they started reaching the end of the passage way they could see a bright light. Nick had to cover his eyes as they adjust to the brightness which seemed to be produced by artificial light. Once he finally reached the end of dug out tunnel, he opened his eyes and he couldn't believe what he saw.

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 ***Hope you enjoyed this chapter, feedback and reviews are appreciated. Hope you have a great day.***


	15. Chapter 14 (The campfire)

The Campfire

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Nick just steered at the large warehouse of what seemed to be the train yard's underground. _"This place is huge!"_ Nick though to himself as he continued to look around.

The rest of Nick's team joined him as they looked at the huge warehouse. Their view of the rest of the warehouse was blocked by a maze of containers. The whole place seemed huge due to the tall ceiling and the large lights illuminating the room.

"Alright listen up, we are gonna split up. I want Willard and Daniel to scout up the left side of the warehouse. Bryan you are coming with me we will scout the right side.

Gorkey looked around, "How about me sir?"

"Gorkey, no offence but a mammal of your size would get easily spotted. So I got a special assignment, stay here and try to get contact with Alpha 1" Nick hands over his radio to Gorkey who than starts searching for contact.

Nick signals for Willard and Daniel to move out while he and Bryan slowly head through an open container. They navigate through the maze of containers until they reach some metal cases stacked on top of pallets. Bryan closes onto the cases while Nick starts looking around for a passage.

Bryan manages to open the cases which were unlocked and finds something peculiar, "Sargent, you gotta check this out."

Nick walks up to the cases and once he looks behind Bryan his jaw drops, "Grenades! Whoa, this isn't good. If they have grenades that means they got some other explosives so our estimates were correct."

A few voices are heard coming ever closer to the pair who quickly decide to hide behind some crates near the wall. Shortly after they see a Jaguar and a lion walk in. The Jaguar seems to be of higher rank than the Lion

The Jaguar speaks to the Lion while examining the metal case, "You know this well, Mark didn't assign me as one of his lieutenant for nuffin."

"Than what do you propose we do? We're running low on supplies and those filthy cops are surrounding us."

"You think I'm a fool? What about the sewer tunnels that 'I' proposed to setup huh?"

"We're already short on manpower and you suggest we send a good chunk of our troops on scavenging duty? We need all the men we can..."

Mark walks in and interrupts the Lion, "Enough! I don't want you to start rumors and desertion!"

The Jaguar looks up at Mark, "But sire, how on Zootopia will we survive against such a large amount of forces?"

Mark starts laughing with a sinister tone, "I have contacted some of our sleeper agents, he he he. They will strike at the heart of the Zootopia's most dense residential area than the damn Mayor and the rest of his little friends will have to listen to our demands. We will take over the government and Zootopia will be finally mine, none of those stupid equality for all! The predators will rise to power and the prey will fear us just like they did thousands of years ago. Muahahahaha!"

Mark starts hysterical laughing and the Jaguar including the Lion join in. Their laughter can be heard booming allover the warehouse.

Nick and Bryan both look at each other shocked as they whisper, "We gotta tell Bogo."

* * *

After sneaking through the maze of crates the pair finally return back to the dug out tunnel where they meet Gorkey talking over the radio which is connected to a small transmitter.

Once Gorkey spots Nick he quickly passes the radio over to Nick, "I believe you should be able to contact Alpha 1."

Without questioning Gorkey about the transmitter Nick speaks through the radio, "This is Delta 5 can anyone hear me over?"

After a few seconds Nick's radio starts buzzing, "This is Alpha 1, What have you got to report?"

"You gotta say over Chief."

"Arg, fine over."

"Alpha 1 after reaching an underground warehouse me and my team were able to eavesdrop on a conversation between Mark and his assistants. We got some really important information to report to you over."

"Warehouse? What Warehouse! Did you even follow the tunnel correctly, you were supposed to reach main train depot. What information do you have to report... over?"

"We found out that the Shadow Riders are so desperately low on supplies *gulp* that they are planning to strike at the heart of Zootopia and take over the government in the process. This doesn't seem good Chief, we gotta act swiftly if we want to become victorious over."

A few seconds pass and a final order comes from Bogo, "I will prepare an ultimatum that I will present at 1800. If they refuse than an official attack will start, your job will be to capture that warehouse and secure the rest of the compound. Good Luck, Alpha 1 out."

Nick turned off the radio and checked his watch, '01:17 pm'. Nick turns around and sees Willard and Daniel, "I see both of you returned, got anything to report?"

"Sarge, we found a flight of stairs leading to what seems the ground floor of this facility, we spotted one guard with a rifle standing guard. That is all."

"Alright, we still got five hours until Chief presents the ultimatum. There are some logs here which I don't believe the Shadow Riders will mind if we take, we are gonna setup a small campfire on the other side of this tunnel in the sewers and get a rest. Understood?"

The four officers salute, "Yes sir!"

"Alright, Gorkey I want you to setup this radio in the sewers and Bryan setup a campfire."

* * *

After at least 10 minutes the fire was lit and the radio was setup. The group found a nice dry spot to sit at behind the fire as they shared bug-burga and other foods around.

Willard rose a question, "How about we all introduce each other before we head into battle. I'll start. My name's Johnny Willard and I'm a gray wolf if you haven't yet found out. I joined the Zootopia Sheriffs Department two years ago and I have a specialty in advance first aid. I do love me some fresh Bug-burga."

"My name's Nigel Bryan I'm a white tiger. Before I joined the ZSD three years ago I was part of the Zootopia Internal Defense Task Force for around five years with the rank of private first class. I got a specialty in close quarter combat since I use a semi automatic shotgun. What else is there to say apart from that I love painting and expressing my feelings in an artistic way."

"My name is Boris Gorkey and I'm a brown bear. I joined the ZSD two years ago just like Johnny. I have technician training mainly in engineering, because of this I carry around several of my important tools, for example my crowbar and wrenches. I like sewing, my grandma taught me."

"Alright than, my name is Mortimer Daniels and I'm a gray wolf. I joined the ZSD one year ago so you can call me a rookie. I was trained in marksman ship so I carry around a scope for my carbine rifle and other useful gadgets. I prefer to engage targets from range but that doesn't mean I can't go close up and personal."

All eyes were fixed on Nick who was the last to speak. "Alright I'll tell you briefly about myself. My name is Nick Wilde and I'm a fox if you didn't notice my bushy tail. Uh, I joined the ZSD half a year ago however before that I served in the ZPD for around three years. I like coffee and you might know me as the one who solved the Night howler case."

Willard starts looking relieved, "That's why I recognized you Sarge. I couldn't quiet guess why you looked familiar."

The group continued eating by the campfire as they told short tales of their adventures.

Nick rises and picks up his rifle, "Since we got five hours we'll have someone being the sentry who will than swap with someone else after an hour. I will be the first sentry than it'll be Willard, Daniels, Gorkey and finally Bryan. Have a good four hour rest and be ready attack on my signal."

Nick leaned against the sewer wall as he stayed alert while the others went to sleep. His mind drifted from the Shadow Riders to Judy, he couldn't stop thinking about her.

 _"I love that bunny, I hope your safe and sound carrots."_ Nick though to himself as he removed any negative thoughts from his mind.

Nick's eyes started to close shut as he became bored from steering at the sewer walls.

"I have to stay awake. I have to stay awake." Nick repeated himself in a desperate effort to stay awake. Unfortunately for him, sleep soon followed.

* * *

 ***Hope you enjoyed, feedback and reviews are appreciated. Have a great day.***


	16. Chapter 15 (Fight fire with fire)

Fight fire with fire.

* * *

Nick could see a vision that he wished he didn't. He was first standing in the middle of an empty street, a street that seemed to ressemble his home. Nick could sense danger which was confirmed by a thunder of paws and hooves behind him. As he turned he could smell and see raging fire and hundreds of mammals running away. The fire was too quick as it spread and reached Nick. Nick closed his eyes and he could hear loud gunshots and terror everywhere. Amidst the fire Nick saw a large figure that resembled a lion wearing a long dark purple cape and a bright diamond crown on his head.

The figure spoke to Nick in a loud booming noise, "Nick Wilde, time is coming and the age of struggle is near us. Only you will protect what I have created. Now go Zootopia awaits."

The figure disappears into smoke and right after Nick hears someone speaking to him through his dream, "Sarge wake up. Sarge!" Nick quickly snaps out of his sleep when he felt someone touch him. He rapidly grabs his rifle and starts aiming wildly, "Whose there!"

Corporal Willard was staggered backwards as he calmly replied, "It's me sarge relax. You just fell asleep while on sentry duty. What happened to you sir?"

Nick starts scratching his neck as he thinks for an answer, "I-I, I didn't sleep well during the night that's all."

"Alright sir, its nearly 1800 and Chief should be presenting the ultimatum soon."

Nick slings his rifle onto his back and starts walking towards the passage way, "Than we should get a move on eh? Wake everyone up I want Gorkey to setup the transmitter... And Willard, thank's for waking me up."

Corporal Willard salutes, "My pleasure sir."

Nick was now at the passage way as he put his paws against the wall feeling the cold mossy walls he pondered about the words the Lion told him. _"Time is coming and the age of struggle is near us. Only you will protect what I have created. What can all that mean? The age of struggle, did he mean the Shadow Rider's success?"_

A few moments later the four officers approach Nick along with Gorkey who is holding the radio with the transmitter which he places on flat ground next to Nick, "Sir I have setup the radio."

Nick and the others sit down as he adjusts the radio to contact Bogo, "Delta 5 to Alpha 1 come in over."

Nick's radio buzzes shortly after, "This is dispatch, Alpha 1 is unavailable right now as he's about to contact the Shadow Riders over."

"Ben is that you?"

"It sure is Nick, want me to patch you through to Chief so you can possibly hear the Shadow Rider's reply over?"

"Alright you do that how copy over?"

"10-4 wait a second while I patch you through, over and out."

The group patiently awaited as Nick turned up the volume so they can all hear.

A few minutes later Daniels speaks out, "When is Chief gonna-" which is quickly cut short as Bogo's voices comes through, "This is Chief Bogo of the ZPD. We are giving you a chance to surrender otherwise we will forcefully storm your compound. You have 5 minutes to decide."

Shortly after several shots are heard through the radio and a faint voice is heard through the radio, "The Shadow Riders will die before we surrender to fools like you."

The radio goes quiet and the officers look at each other. The silence is broken as Nick speaks, "Than this means war. Everyone prepare your weapons we will be heading out once the Chief reports in."

The group start gathering their supplies and gear while Nick is sitting next to the radio waiting for Bogo. The radio buzzes as Bogo speaks, "Delta 5 this is Alpha 1 come in over."

Nick grabs the radio and replies, "This is Delta 5 I copy."

"Listen up Delta 5, the Shadow Riders have refused to surrender and we will be attacking shortly. I want your team to move through the warehouse and strike the Shadow Riders from behind while Delta 1 through to 4 will move in under the support of Hotel 1, 2 and Whiskey 1 from the military over."

"10-4 Chief, how about Delta 6 over?"

"Delta 6 under the command of Hopps and a detachment from Hotel 1 have been sent to the town hall to protect the mayor how copy over?"

"Understood, Delta 5 starting our operation over and out."

Nick places down the radio and disconnects it from the transmitter, "You heard the Chief. Gorkey take the transmitter, everyone follow me."

As Nick was about to destroy the campfire he heard loud footsteps coming through the passage way, "Everyone take your positions behind any cover you can find. Someones coming!"

The group quickly take up their positions and aim at the passage way as they frantically wait. A second later around 8 Shadow Riders wearing Kevlar pile through the passage way armed to the teeth with weapons they stand in a line and aim at the officers. Laughter can be heard coming from behind the Shadow Riders which is revealed to be Gerald who stands in a gap between two shadow riders. Wearing Kevlar along with a suit and a headset and a radio hanging around his neck and a revolver that he is holding upright.

Gerald smirks as he looks into Nick's eyes, his gaze illuminated by the campfire, "Nick or should I call you Sargent Wilde. Ha, ha, ha now the tables have turned and now your are at my mercy."

Nick continues steadily aiming at Gerald as he replies, "Gerald! I should've known. How did you escape, well I think I know how but, how did you know we were here?"

"Nick, Nick you haven't learned? I was a high grade intelligence officer at the academy well I still am. As they say intelligence is a virtue."

One of the shadow riders looks up at Gerald, "I beleive its called.."

He is quickly cut off by Gerald, "Enough of correcting me already! Anyways, tally ho say hi to your rabbit friend once I end her. Kill them!"

Gerald turns around and starts walking away. Nick yells at him, "Not if I end you first!"

Nick pulls on the trigger letting a burst of ammunition fly towards the Shadow Riders.

* * *

 ***Hope you guys enjoyed. I'll be sure to post another chapter soon, feedback and reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!***


	17. Chapter 16 (Beginning of an end)

Beginning of an end

* * *

The first two bullets impacted against some of the Shadow Rider's Kevlar without inflicting any serious damage however the final bullet found it's mark. Nick could only hear Gerald yelped in pain from a fatal wound as he fell. This resulted in the Shadow Riders returning fire as they scrambled to cover while Gerald attempts to stabilize himself behind some old logs.

Seeing the situation is getting out of hand Nick gives out an order, "Fallback! Into the sewers quick, we won't hold them off right here!"

As the group retreated deeper into the tunnel the part of the sewer they haven't visited before, they had to return fire to slow down the pursuing Shadow Riders and briefly stop to reload. They could see one of the hostiles break off from the pursuit perhaps to attend to Gerald's wounds. The gunfire echoed through dark sewer tunnels that were illuminated by flashlights. None of the sides could accurately hit anyone as the lights blinded them. Ammunition can be heard flying past them as they run for their life.

They can hear voices behind them echoing along with the gunfire, "Suppress them! Don't let em escape!"

The officers run behind a bend as they stop for a small break Bryan approaches Nick, "Sargent Wilde, Daniels is hit badly his leg is badly injured. Corporal Willard managed stop the bleeding but he won't be able to move fast without assistance."

Nick peeked the corner for a brief second, "They are moving in fast. Gorkey on me."

Gorkey approaches Nick and salutes, "Alright I want you to carry Daniels who's badly injured. Listen up everyone were moving out now!"

Gorkey grabs Daniels and the officers jog deeper into the tunnels while being pursued by the shadow riders ever coming near. The group passes another bend and spot a small service tunnel with a dead end coming from the main tunnel. Nick decides to take the risk and head into the service tunnel where the group hides behind some pipes. A few seconds later the Shadow Riders come to a stop in front of the service tunnel.

The leader of their group starts sniffing towards the service tunnel, "Say, I think they went in er."

"Why would they? It's a dead end lets continue heading down the tunnel we are wasting time."

After a brief moment the leader disregards his thoughts and the Shadow Riders head deeper into the sewers. The officers breath out as they wipe off sweat and sit against the wall. Nick continues standing as thoughts about Gerald rush in.

Willard looks up at Nick who is still standing, "Sarge you should take a short break while the Shadows are distracted."

"I-I can't.. We can't. We have a job to finish on your feet follow me!"

"Understood sir"

The officers follow Nick as they head the opposite direction of the Shadows. The sewers were much more quiet now than before as the combat had died down. They reach the passage way where Gerald was shot, the campfire still going. They spot Gerald and a Shadow next to him and quickly hide behind some debris so they won't get spotted while they eavesdrop. They fix their ears on the conversation between the two. The shadow rider a weasel with a medical patch on his arm and a first aid kit is kneeling next to Gerald while bandaging him.

"Gerald relax, your anger ain't gonna help your current situation." the shadow rider remarks Gerald's state while bandaging him.

Gerald clutches his paw in anger, "Arg, he was so close I could've ended him myself! Now look what he turned me into."

"Calm down Gerald you need to rest."

While the weasel is distracted Nick signals for his team to jump out of cover, "Drop your weapons and surrender!"

The weasel slowly turns around with a pistol in his paw, "What gives you the idea that i'll surrender." at this the weasel aims at Nick, in an instance a gun is fired. The weasel grabs his chest and falls down.

Nick slowly turns around and sees Daniels still aiming at the weasel with a rifle and shaking. Nick feels relieved as he moves onto Gerald who is now struggling to grab his revolver. Nick realizes what Gerald is about to do and kicks it out of his reach and aims at Gerald with his rifle.

"You better give up."

Gerald starts coughing and grasps his wound, "You think I'll get out of this one without a fight?"

"You're badly injured Gerald and you won't be able to fight us anymore. Willard quick tend to his wounds."

Willard kneels down next to Gerald who pushes him away with all the force he has left and takes his final glance at Nick, "I ain't coming out of this one alive Fox."

He than pulls out a knife from his holster, Nick and Willard try to grab it off him but they are to late.

Gerald's paw drops as he falls over. Willard quickly searches for a pulse, "I'm sorry sir... He's d-. He's dead."

Nick takes off his helmet as he down onto Gerald, "You have payed the price for betraying me. Even for a traitor you will not be forgotten Officer Terrance Gerald of the ZSD."

Willard approaches Nick, "I'm sorry sir, I didn't stop him from suicide."

Nick puts his helmet back on and readies his rifle, "It's fine Willard, anyways everyone back on your feet once more. Time to end the Shadow Riders once and for all!"

Everyone gets ready as they follow Nick once more into the lair of bear. The long dug out tunnel seems much more shorter now that they already walked through it on one occasion. They take cover before some old debris as Nick plans their next move.

He thinks to himself for a minute and than comes up with a briliant idea, "Corporal Willard."

"Yes sir."

"We are going to sneak up to the large opening right in front of the stairs that you reported previously. I want you to take point and make sure the area is clear."

Willard quietly nods and heads out, the rest of the group soon follow. They sneak through the maze of containers with ease and finally reach the opening. They hear several voices coming from a hallway up the steps. They hastily scramble for cover and watch the steps through a small gap.

A group of 8 shadow riders run through the hallway and past them armed to the teeth with weaponry. Once Nick saw that it was all clear he signaled for everyone to move closer to him. "We don't have much time so we should use this window of opportunity. The Shadow Riders seem to be distracted by the ZPD and others fighting them on the surface. All of you follow me apart from Daniels, you'll stay here we can't afford you to be injured anymore."

"But sir, if you don't remember i'm a trained marksman. I can still fight from range."

Nick stopped for a moment and to much of his hate he replied, "Fine, I'll let you join us but only if you fight from range as you promised."

"Alright sir, I won't let you down."

"Everyone on me we're moving out."

Nick waits for Gorkey to grab Daniels and afterwards they quietly head through the opening and up the stairs.

* * *

 ***Hope you enjoyed. Reviews and feedback are appreciated. Enjoy your day.***


	18. Chapter 17 (The hallway)

The hallway

* * *

They quietly walk up the stone steps that Nick wished would hush their paw steps. As they reached the long hall they could hear gunshots coming from their left. The whole hallway seemed rich with marble tiles and walls. On the ceiling hang glass chandeliers and against the walls old wooden bookshelves dot the hallway.

It seemed the hallway lead to two different places, one closer to the gunshots the other deeper into the underground with a flight of stairs leading downwards and possibly upwards.

"Where to now?" Nick asks the officers as he starts thinking.

After a few moments Gorkey comes up with an answer, "Sargent, shouldn't we head to the gunshots? The gunshots could lead us to the surface."

Bryan steps in, "Good point however what if their leaders are hiding deeper in this library place?"

An explosion shakes the hallway and the ceiling starts cracking as the foundations start to fall. The officers try to escape however the hallway is shaken by another explosion this time forcing the ceiling caving in and blocking one of their exits with rubble. Dust settles and soon enough they receive their answer.

Nick ready's his weapon, "To the gunshots than."

They jog along the marble tiles gunshots coming ever closer. They feel nervous as they approach and unknown enemy armed with a variety of weapons that are sure to make their day get worse.

Gorkey remarks the riches of the hallway, "Back in my home town we would only ever see such wealth in books and museums."

Daniels replies, "Yeah, this place is huge. Maybe these are old catacombs or remains of a palace from the past."

Nick continues looking around, "Mark used to study a lot about ancient history of Zootopia maybe this place harbors countless of riches lost in the past that the Shadow Riders use to get such weaponry and gear?"

Willard replies, "Whatever this place is I'm sure the museum of natural history would be interested but that's a story for another time. Maybe someday we'll visit this place and remember all we've been in through."

The whole group starts imagining the future, soon enough Nick and his partners find their first target. Two large Shadows stand behind sandbags, one firing a machine gun the other feeding in the belt. Shortly after they spot Nick's group and quickly re-position and aim at the group.

Nick lower's his weapon showing them he's no threat and starts backing off, "Maybe we can talk this out eh?"

The shadow manning the machine gun replies back, "We'll never talk with you scum."

He opens fire the *ack* *ack* of the machine gun sends a chill down Nick's spine. Nick and Willard run into a small room to their right while the other three run into a room to their left. Once Nick and Willard realize that they are separated, the building is shaken by another explosion this time it blocks the way they came in trapping them in the room.

Nick starts attempting to dig through the debris, "There has to be a way! There's no way we are trapped in here."

Bryan starts looking around in the dark room, "Relax. This room might have an exit, say that looks like a door."

The pair approach it and Nick tries to open it, "Argh it's locked. Any ideas?"

Bryan approaches Nick, "Sarge, let me try opening it." Nick steps aside and Bryan attempts to open it with his sheer strength. "How much I wish Gorkey was here. Hopefully the room layout is symmetrical and they have better luck than us."

Nick starts roaming the room looking for any passage way, "Maybe these guys have a sort of hidden passage way. Here try pushing against the walls."

Bryan becomes confused but he follows orders and starts pushing against every section of the walls he could find. No luck.

"Sir should we just try to radio in with command?"

Nick pulls out his radio, "Good idea, think the radio can reach Bogo in this depth?"

Bryan responds and leans against a bookshelf and starts checking his weapon, "There's no hurt in trying."

Nick starts speaking through the radio, "Can anyone hear me this is Delta 5 over?"

Nick waits a few seconds, "No response... Oh wait I forgot to change the frequency."

Nick changes the frequency to the correct number and speaks to the radio, "This is Delta 5 to any available unit can you hear me over?"

Nick hears a faint voice coming from the radio that becomes covered with loud static, "This is… brough… requesting your… over…"

"Hello? This is Delta 5 we cannot hear you over the static. How copy over?"

"10-4… we'll try..." The radio becomes silent.

Nick tries to reply through the radio but no luck, "We'll either it's the depth or we are being jammed. Either way we got to figure out how to get out."

Nick sits down behind a desk and decides to polish his service pistol while pondering over their possible escape route. _"I hope Judy's alright at town hall. I wish Bogo didn't separate us into different teams, it's good experience to be a squad leader but I'd rather have Judy at my side."_

Nick stands up and starts looking at a fuse box near the door, "Maybe we can-." He is cut short as a large bolt of light and fire erupts through the door and turning it into pieces of metal. Nick's vision goes completely white as he becomes blinded and his ears are filled with deafening ringing. He falls on his knees and clasps his ears with his paws while he moans in pain.

Nick feels the cold of a barrel of a weapon against his back, a chill comes down his spine...

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 ***The beginning of the large battle, hope you guys enjoyed. Stay tuned for more chapters coming soon. Feedback and reviews are appreciated, enjoy your day. ***


	19. Chapter 18 (New allies, New casualties)

New allies, New casualties.

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Nick feels the the cold barrel leave and his eyes start to recover before his ears. He can make out at least 8 figures dressed in dark black shining flashlights away from his eyes. Nick's senses finally recover and he can spot Bryan pressing his paws against his head.

A large buffalo presumable high ranking reaches out his hove to give Nick some help, "I'm awfully sorry for what you just witnessed Sargent..."

Nick stands upright without any help, "Wilde, Sargent Nick Wilde Delta 5 and you are?"

"Inspector Earlbrough Hotel 1. I'm awfully sorry for the actions of my men... Corporal Winchester you could've killed him, I wanna hear a good reason for thinking they were hostiles."

All the officers steer at the Corporal a Leopard who lowers his weapon and looks down, "Sir we uh- we heard reports... two hostiles manning er- a machine gun and we uh believed..."

"Silence! After this i'll report you personally to Bogo, now get to your post!" Earlbrough turns onto Nick his tone changing from harsh and scoffing to calm and relaxing, "Once again, i'm awfully sorry for what happened. My men haven't gotten into a fight yet and they were too eager to shoot."

Nick starts looking for his weapons and soon enough finds his pistol on a desk along with a cloth while his rifle was nowhere to be seen. He starts furiously looking around the room and realizes what happened to it a few seconds later.

He approaches Bryan and whispers to him, "My rifle got buried in the debris, if anyone asks don't tell them I lost it."

Bryan winks as they spot Earlbrough approaching them who than proceeds to place down a map onto the desk while Winchester shines a flashlight attempting to seem useful.

Earlbrough roams his finger around it until he stops on a room marked study, "We are here in this room named study and my team and I came from the eastern tunnel entrance."

Nick replies in confusion, "Tunnel?"

"Yeah, we found a tunnel and were sent to assault through it due to us having large... decent amount of explosives. I presume that rubble is the remains of a doorway that leads to the main hallway."

Nick looks closely at the map, "If that's the hallway why isn't the warehouse and stairwell marked?"

"Hmm, perhaps this map is outdated. Say what happened to the rest of your team I though Delta 5 had five men?"

"We sure did, an explosive shook the place and caved us in separating us from the other three."

The inspector briefly eyes Winchester and folds his map and gives out an order, "Corporal shine your flashlight onto the destroyed doorway."

The corporal in confusion starts shinning his flashlight at the doorway they breached through, "Not that one, gimme that."

Earlbrough snatches the flashlight of Winchester and shines it at the rubble, "hmmm... Corporal think you can blow those rocks open?"

Winchester observes the rocks and starts inspecting his backpack for explosives, "I sure can sah, gimme a moment and i'll blow 'em open."

"As much as I hate it, it's your time to shine than, everyone take cover in the hallway we came through now move it."

Both teams quickly rush through the door and wait in cover shortly after Winchester slowly creeps in carrying a large trigger and wire trailing behind him. The inspector signals for the explosives to detonate after briefly checking that everyone was OK. The corporal gives off a short sneer and pulls the trigger, a huge heat wave along with dust flies through the doorway and smashes some bricks on the wall while shaking the whole hallway.

The inspector starts waving off dust as he speaks through his coughing, "*cough* everyone *cough* alright?"

All the officers reply in a jumble, "All good here."

Earlbrough stands up once the dust settles and everyone else soon follows. Lights from the hallway shine through as Nick and Bryan follow behind Winchester.

Nick looks up and around, "I'm surprised the ceiling didn't collapse from the explosion."

Bryan remarks on the quietness, "I have a terribly bad feeling about this."

Winchester laughs as he pats him on the back, "Relax bud. There's nothing that can go wrong now."

Bryan sighs and they continue following Earlbrough. Soon enough they reach the doorway and the inspector kneels down, "Corporal Winchester grab a shield and scout out our path."

Winchester exchanges his rifle for a shield and slowly peeks the two corners while crouched and slowly looks around in the hallway. There are rocks lying allover the hallway, Winchester quickly crosses into a dark room directly opposite from the one Nick is in. He disappears into the room and shortly after reappears standing up and with his shield lowered.

He starts slowly walking through the hallway, "Sah it's all clear not a..."

The corporal is quickly cut off by Earlbrough waving at him with his rifle, "Don't cross cover less! Remember what I taught you."

The leopard realizes what he has done and is to late to do anything about it. A loud bang is heard from his left a bullet hits him right in the chest which results in him dropping on the floor. With his instinct Nick runs up to him and grabs Winchester's shield to cover Bryan while he grabs Winchester. Most if not all of the bullets ricochet of the metal shield pushing Nick ever so slightly back. Several officers open fire down the hallway to suppress the shooters. Rounds whiz past the trio as they slowly make their way for cover.

Bryan finally reaches the safety of the room and gently lowers Winchester, blood flowing down his unprotected side and a medic shortly after attempts to stabilize him. The pair grab their weapons and return fire at the shadow riders.

Shortly after the officers hold fire and pile into the room. Earlbrough without looking at Winchester speaks to him in a harsh tone, "You gotta explain to me why you turned your back on the hallway."

He waits a few seconds no reply and asks him again this time while facing Winchester, "I asked you a question corporal-"

He is interrupted by the medic a Staff Sargent who stands up and faces Earlbrough, "I'm sorry sir... Corporal Winchester he... he's dead."

Tear's start to slowly flow down the Buffalo's as the rest of the officers take off their helmets.

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 ***Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for now uploading for several days now I've been extremely busy ever so recently. I'll be sure to return to my standard schedule. Feedback and reviews are appreciated enjoy your day. ***


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